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— — 






OLD CHARLESTOWN 



Historical •/ Biographical 
Reminiscent 



BY 

TIMOTHY T. SAWYER 



F7^ 






BOSTON 

JAMES H. WEST COMPANY 
1902 



THr\1BRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two CoP)6d Recseived 

AUG. 1 1902 

COPVT^IQHT ENTftV 

(X'k'VCL, . i - f ^ 1- 

|C»,AS» ^ XXa No. 

h f S S ^ 
COPY 8. 



Copyright, 1902, 
By Timothy T. Sawyer. 



^ / 



^0 

THE MEMORY OF MY WIFE 

MARY STOCKMAN SAWYER 

MY COMPANION AND GUIDE FOR SIXTY-THREE YEARS 

AND 

WHOSE GENTLE AND TRUTHFUL SPIRIT 
WILL GUIDE ME TO THE END 

31 IBelJtcate tfjts Boofe 



Preface 

-^ 

From time to time during the past fourteen 
years I have contributed to the columns of The 
Charlestown Enterprise articles having reference to 
Charlestown, its residents, and its society in the 
past. The articles contain much that has been 
taken from authentic historical records, more 
perhaps of personal recollection, and are full of 
pleasant memories of a community in which I 
have lived for a very long period and of which I 
have great occasion to think with grateful emotion 
and honest pride. 

In preparing these articles 1 have felt the con- 
sciousness of a desire to give expression to my 
estimation of the character of the Old Town and 
of its good influence upon those who have been 
fortunate enough to make it their place of residence. 
I have no comparison to make between it and 
other places, but I look over the list of names I 
have given and am sure that it contains those of a 

5 



6 PREFACE 

great number of persons who are so well known for 
their standing and success in life that it is not need- 
ful specially to call attention to their merits or to 
boast of their citizenship. 

I have been urged many times to have these 
papers reprinted in book-form. In my own judg- 
ment it has been questionable whether they were 
worth such use ; but I have concluded at last to 
have this volume issued. It has seemed to me at 
times that the chapters should be re-arranged and 
carefully systematized ; but on the whole I deem 
it best to put them in the book as they appeared 
in the newspaper. If they shall be found worthy 
of perusal, and give pleasure to my friends, I shall 
be satisfied. 

The date of the original appearance of each of 
the papers is shown at the close of each chapter. 

T. T. s. 
July, 1902. 



Contents 

PAGE 
I 

The Dexter Estate 

Samuel Dexter — Giles Alexander — Nathan Bridge — Ham- 
ilton Davidson — Rhodes Lockwood 17 

II 

The Swift Estate 

James Noble — Artemas Ward — Benjamin Swift — Nathan 

Pratt — James Bird, and others 24 

III 

The Loring Home 

Colonel Joseph Loring and his Family 28 

IV 

The Hyde Estate 
Francis Hyde — Nathan Webb — Edwin F. Adams 31 

V 

Cordis Street 
Samuel Kidder — Samuel Abbott — Gilbert Tufts 35 

VI 

On Cordis Street 

Charles Thompson — Samuel Thompson — The Academy — 

Captain David Low — Richard Baker 40 

VII 

The Thompson Homestead 

Timothy Thompson and his Family 47 



8 CONTENTS 

VIII 

The McNeil Estate 

Lynde's Point and its Improvement — The Homestead — 

Archibald McNeil — Samuel Jaques — Visit of Lafayette 56 

IX 

Gallant Huntsmen 
Reynard's Pursuers and where they went — Mrs. Hall's 

Strawberries 64 

X 

Some Noted Men 

James Frothingham — Josiah Barker — The Goodwins — 

Ship-Building 68 

XI 

The Old Ship Union — Washington Street 

Captain George Barker — Reuben Hunt — Professor George 

F. Barker — Samuel Devens ^4 

XII 

Washington Street and Some of Its 
Residents 

James Adams — William M. Byrnes — George Hyde — 

William Arnold — The Flints 78 

XIII 
Washington Street 

Its Pleasant Neighborhood 84 

XIV 
Along Bow Street 

Residences of Richard Devens and John Harris — Henry 

Jaques and his Family 88 

XV 
Bow Street 

George W. Tyler's Library and its Distinguished Visitors — 
George Davidson and his Voyage around the World in 
the Ship Columbia when the river Columbia was discov- 
ered — John J. Stowell 92 



CONTENTS 9 

XVI 
The Devens and Harris Families 

Commissary Devens — Jonathan Harris — Charlotte Harris 

— Social Life — General Charles Devens 97 

XVII 
The Devens House on Chelsea Street 

Eminent Men among its Former Occupants — Bow Street 
again — Deacon Isaac Warren — William W. Wheildon 

— The Bunker Hill Aurora 105 

XVIII 

Prominent and Distinguished Men 

The Feltons — Robert Lovering and his Son, Professor 
Joseph Lovering — Civil Engineering — The Morocco 
Industry Ill 

XIX 

The Father of Civil Engineering in 

America 

The Baldwin Estate — James Harrison — Captain Thomas 
Beckford — Colonel Loammi Baldwin — George R. 
Baldwin 117 

XX 

The Vineyard 

Isaac Mead — David Haggerston — The Mead Home. ... 123 

XXI 

Charlestown Square — Main Street 

The Hurds — Skinner, Hurd & Co. — John Skinner — 

John Hurd i 28 

XXII 

The Hurds 
Mansion of Joseph Hurd — Dr. Josiah Stearns Hurd — 

William Hurd 133 

XXIII 

Matthew Rice 
A Memorial Tribute 139 



lo CONTENTS 

XXIV 
Dexter Row 

John F. Skinner — Henry P. Fairbanks — Shadrach Varney 1 43 

XXV 

Dexter Row — Harvard Church 
Benjamin Thompson — James Walker, D.D. — George E. 

Ellis, D.D 147 

XXVI 

The Forsters ; 

The Old Furniture-Store — Jacob Forster and Forster, Law- | 

rence & Co 153 " 

XXVII 

The Tufts Family 

Tufts College — An Interesting Statement in regard to Other 
Colleges also founded by and named for Former Res- 
idents of Charlestown — How did the Town of Maiden 
get its Name ? 1 60 j 

XXVIII ' 

The Tufts Family (continued) 

Deacon Amos Tufts — Joseph F. Tufts — Eliab P. Mack- 

intire — Nathan Tufts — A Famous Law-suit 165 

XXIX 

Some Fine Old Estates J 

Retrospective Glances at the Homes of Former Citizens — 

Nathan Tufts — Ebenezer Breed — Nathan Adams . . 171 

XXX 

The Once Prominent Breed Family 

Richard and John Breed — Commodore John Shaw — 

Morton's Point — Rope-making 177 

XXXI I 

The Frothinghams 

Names That Are Familiar to All Old Residents of Charles- 
town — A Notable Family 184 



CONTENTS II 

XXXII 
A Notable Visitor 

Kossuth, the Hungarian Patriot, greeted in Charlestown as a 
Tried and True Friend of Liberty — Reception at 
Mayor Frothingham's 193 

XXXIII 
Major Timothy Walker 

Another Prominent Family — Walker Street — Charlotte 

Cushman — Thomas Ball 200 

XXXIV 

The Walker Family 

Dr. William J. Walker — Distinguished Graduates of his 
School — Samuel T. Armstrong, an Eminent Book 
Publisher — Where the Universalists held their First 
Meetings 206 

XXXV 

A Chapter of History 

Suggested by the Death of Professor Bowen — The Alford 

Professorship in Harvard College 212 

XXXVI 

The Name of Austin 

It Appeared Very Early and Has Held a Prominent Position 
in the History of Charlestown — Nathaniel Austin — 
William Austin 216 

XXXVII 

The Austin Family 

Arthur, Henry, Francis, and James Austin 223 

XXXVIII 
The Bridge Family 

Its High Standing — Matthew Bridge — Samuel J. Bridge 
— The Family Estate on Town Hill — Lafayette's 
Second Visit to Charlestown 229 



12 CONTENTS 

XXXIX 

The Statue of Harvard 
The Gift of Samuel J. Bridge — Address of Dr. George E. 

Ellis 235 

XL 

Edward Everett 

Elected Governor while a Resident of Charlestown — His 

Addresses — Reminisences 241 

XLI 

Two Celebrations 
Independence Day, July 4, 1828: Edward Everett, the 
Orator — Bunker Hill Day, June 17, 1836: Alex- 
ander H. Everett, the Orator — Edward Everett's 
Famous Speech at the Dinner-Table 249 

XLII 

George Washington 

Charlestown Ever Faithful to His Memory 255 

XLIII 

An Important List 

Cabinet Officers, Members of Congress, and Members of 
the Massachusetts Legislature, from Charlestown, cov- 
ering One Hundred Years 262 j 

XLIV 
The Knowles-Everett House 

The Russell House — The Mansion House — The 

Waverley House — Moses A. Dow 270 

XLV 
The Dow Banquet 

Expressions of Esteem and Appreciation for a Public- 
Spirited Man — The Famous Waverley Magazine.. 276 

XLVI 
William Gray and Joshua Bates 

Frederic Tudor and the First Shipment of Ice 282 



CONTENTS 13 

XLVII 

Nathaniel Gorham 

One of the Most Eminent Citizens in the History of 
Charlestown — Town Hill as it was in the Early- 
Days — The Old Town Hall 288 

XLVIII 
A Famous Controversialist 

Dr. Jedidiah Morse — His Ministry in Charlestown — His 
Sons — The Great Invention which made S. F. B. 
Morse Famous 293 

XLIX 
Crafts' Corner 

The Boylston House — The Boylstons and the Hays, Early 

Settlers and Large Holders of Real-Estate 305 

L 

Memorial Tribute 
Sarah F. Robertson 313 

LI 
One of the Old Families 

Otis Clapp — Mrs. Richard WiHiams, and others 315 

LII 

Thompson Square 

Why it was so Named — Members of the Thompson 

Family 317 

LIII 
Doctor Thompson 

Beloved as a Family Physician, Prominent in Public Affairs, 

and Full of Religious Sentiment 322 

LIV 

" Coronation " 

Where it Originated and was First Heard — Oliver Holden 

— Thomas Hooper — The Little Puritan Church ... 332 



14 CONTENTS 

LV 
Rev. Thomas F. King 

Father of Starr King and Pastor of the Universalist Church 

— His Death and Funeral — The First Sermon of 
Doctor Chapin in Massachusetts 345 

LVI 
Rev. Edwin H. Chapin 

His Ministry and Life in Charlestown 351 

LVII 
Thomas Starr King 
His Boyhood and Youth — Succeeds Doctor Chapin in His 

Father's Pulpit 357 

LVIII 
Phillips Brooks 

His Connection with Charlestown through the Gorham 

Family — His Wider World- Relationship 365 

LIX 
Two Well-Known Families 

The Sweetsers — David Stetson and His Family 368 

LX 

The Turnpike — Chelsea Street 
Its Vicinity — Former Residents 373 

LXI 

Public-Spirited Citizens 
Jacob Foss — John Tapley 378 

LXII 

A Beautiful Tribute 

Mrs. Ellen A. Ranlett — David Dodge Ranlett — Isaac 

Brown — Captain Charles A. Ranlett 387 

LXIII 

Notable Citizens 
Willard Dalrymple — Daniel Johnson — Thomas Greenleaf 

— Thomas M. Cutter — William E. Norton, the Dis- 
tinguished Artist 391 



CONTENTS 15 

LXIV 

William Sawyer 
A Native of the Town and Prominent in Its Affairs 399 

LXV 

Successful Men 

John Wade Damon — Captain Joseph B. Thomas — Patrick 

O'Riorden 405 

LXVI 

Monument Square 

G. Washington Warren — Peter Hubbell — George D. 

Edmands — The Edmands Family 412 

LXVII 

High Street 

Numbers 44 and 46 — Edward Lawrence and T. T. 

Sawyer 418 

LXVIII 

Monument Square Again 

Lynde A. Huntington — Rev. Dr. W. I. Buddington — 
Rev. Oliver C. Everett — Dr. Luther V. Bell — 
Mrs. Henry Forster — Dr. Edward J. Forster — Rev. 
James B. Miles 423 

LXIX 

Monument Square (continued) 
A House on Rollers — Abram E. Cutter — The McKims 

— The Book-Store 428 

LXX 

The Hunnewell Estate 
James Hunnewell — James F. Hunnewell — The Old Indian 
Chief Tavern Removed to make a Site for the Harvard 
Unitarian Church 431 

LXXI 

Monument Square (concluded) 
Dr. Henry Lyon — John Stowell 434 



i6 CONTENTS 

LXXII 

Beautiful Gardens 

Samuel R. Johnson — Joseph Newell — The Townspeople 

Enjoyed the Cultivation of Fruits and Flowers 439 

LXXIII 

High Street Residences 

Benjamin Whipple — Paul Willard — Calvin C. Sampson — 

John Boyle O'Reilly 443 

LXXIV 

High Street Sixty Years Ago 

My Boyhood Home — The Neighbors — Thomas B. Harris 

— The Elm Street News- Room 448 

LXXV 

Other Residents of High Street and 

Monument Square 

Active Mayors of the City of Charlestown 454 

LXXVI 

Charlestown Neck 

A Busy Part of the Old Town — Before the Days of Rail- 
roads — Archibald Babcock — The Wymans, Hoveys, 
Johnsons, Phippses, and Lamsons 460 

LXXVII 

Adams and Winthrop Streets 

Former Prominent Residents — The Old Training Field 

School 467 

LXXVIII 
History of the Public Library 473 



Old Charlestown 



I 

The Dexter Estate 

Samuel Dexter — Giles Alexander — Nathan Bridge — Hamilton 
Davidson — Rhodes Lockwood. 

I HAVE read with interest the account of the dedica- 
tion of the house recently purchased by Post Abraham 

Lincoln of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of 
the selection of a part of the Samuel Dexter estate as a 
location for its headquarters. The location seems to me 
to be a good one. It is not only well adapted to the 
purposes of the association, but it has a history pleasant 
to dwell upon as the members sit around their camp-fires, 
using the past to make the present cheerful, interesting, 
and instructive. 

I looked over the building a few days previous to the 
occasion referred to, and was somewhat astonished to find 
the comfortable and elegant old mansion transformed into 
a useful public building, with a modern audience-hall of 
fine proportions, tastefully fitted up, having an ample 
entrance-way, and a dining-hall equal to the comfortable 
seating of a hundred or more persons, or to the accom- 

17 



i8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

modation of a very large company with a free and easy 
lunch. I missed the beautiful stairway in the front hall, 
which had been the admiration of all visitors to the old 
mansion. It was always very ornamental in the old 
arrangement of the house, but I suppose it could not be 
worked into the plans for the new, and so, except for a 
short time in the memory of a few of us, that attractive 
design is gone forever. 

That very distinguished man, Samuel Dexter,* who 
was a member of both branches of the Congress of the 
United States, and Secretary of War and of the Treasury 
under President John Adams, and of whom, upon the 
occasion of his death, John Adams in writing to a friend 
declared, " I have lost the ablest friend I had on earth, 
in Mr. Dexter," lived for some years in Chariest own, in 
the house about which we are writing, which he had 
built on a tract of land purchased of J. Hay. In this 
house was born his son, Franklin Dexter, another dis- 
tinguished man, of whom it has been said, "with his 
eminence as a lawyer he united great knowledge and 
skill in art, and high attainments in literature." 
Franklin Dexter was the father of another prominent 
man of the present time, F. Gordon Dexter, of Boston, 
to whom the public is indebted a good deal more than \ 
it knows for the erection of the fine statue of Colonel 
Prescott on the Monument grounds. When the package 



* Samuel Dexter was in the Massachusetts Senate in 1792; in the 
Council in 1804-05; in the Congress of the United States, i793-'95 ; 
in the Senate of the United States, 1799-1800; he was Secretary of the 
Treasury, January i to March 3, 1801, and Secretary of War, 1 800-1 801. 
He was the first president of the first Temperance Society in Massachu- 
setts. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 19 

containing the statue was first opened after its arrival 
in this country, he made a visit to the wharf of the 
Hallowell Granite Company, where it was landed, and 
afterwards called with the writer at the old mansion 
in Green Street to look over the former residence of 
his ancestors, the birthplace of his father. 

Samuel Dexter sold the estate to Giles Alexander 
in 1800, and it was his residence until 18 14, when he 
sold it to Matthew Bridge, who died not long after. 
Neither Matthew Bridge nor his wife ever occupied 
this house, but their son, Nathan Bridge, resided there 
from 1 8 14 till 1830, when he died. His daughter Susan 
spent her childhood and youth here, and was married 
to Dr. Charles T. Jackson, chemist, mineralogist, and 
geologist, of world-wide reputation. When the estate 
was offered at auction by Mr. Lockwood, a little more 
than a year ago, Mrs. Jackson was present, coming, 
as she said, to see what remained of her old home, 
to call up pleasant recollections of her girlhood days, 
when everything about her father's residence was in 
perfect order and delightful to look upon. And it was 
a beautiful place, for during the occupancy of Nathan 
Bridge it received its greatest care and the largest 
improvement was made. Mr. Bridge spared no expense 
to keep fully up to the times in the adornment of his 
grounds and the variety of his plants ; and his garden 
was known to all lovers of horticulture as one of the 
very best kept and most interesting in the State. His 
love for it was such as to keep his skilled employees 
constantly active and ambitious to excel, and their 
success was known and acknowledged. His green- 
house, in the upper part of the garden, was small, but 



20 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

he had a fine show of espalier fruit-trees (apricot, 
nectarine, and peach) on the brick walls on High Street, 
and on frames, arranged in various shapes, between the 
greenhouse and the wall. From the side door of the 
house he looked out upon a circle of fir-trees, in the 
center of which was the tulip-tree still standing. Beyond 
this circle was a fruit-garden of standard trees — peach, 
dwarf apple, cherry, and pear. A seckel pear, one of 
these trees, was grafted from the original seckel, which 
was a native in Germantown, Philadelphia. This tree 
remained and bore much fine fruit in the garden of the 
late Edward Lawrence, after his purchase of a part of 
the estate on High Street for his residence. 

Passing through the fruit garden, the entrance to the 
grove or shaded walk was reached, about in a line from 
the ell of the Hyde or Edwin Adams house, the front 
of which is on Cordis Street. This walk, on both sides 
of which were shade-trees of the finest and rarest 
varieties, extended all along the southeast side to the 
rear end of the Universalist Church, then at a right 
angle to the side of the church, and by the side of the 
church to the rear of the Stevens estate, which fronted 
on Main Street, along the line of that estate to Main 
Street, and from there along the Main and Green Street 
lines to the house. The large trees now standing in the 
lower part of the garden of Mr. Lawrence, in the court 
and garden in the rear of the Winthrop Church, and the 
horse-chestnuts on Green Street, made a part of this 
beautiful walk. 

The stable was on the corner of Green and High 
Streets ; and the area between it and the house was 
paved with cobble-stones. Near the stable, in the upper 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 21 

part of the garden, early vegetables and plants for the 
flower-garden were started under fancy-shaped glass 
frames. Commencing at the gateway on Green Street, 
and all along the Green and Main Street lines to the 
Stevens estate, was a buckthorn hedge. After the 
hedge had grown high, the lower branches were cut off, 
and a close board fence was built against it, so that the 
branching top only was seen above the fence. The 
hedge was clipped several times during the season, and 
its true lines and level top were very effective. The 
center of the garden was a vineyard ; and all varieties 
of hardy and half-hardy grapes were cultivated with 
great care and marked success. An educated and skilled 
gardener always had charge of the estate, but it was the 
personal oversight and fine taste of the owner that kept 
up the character of the garden. Mr. Bridge was a man 
of very extended knowledge and intelligence. He had 
spent much time abroad, and no doubt adopted what he 
had seen there in cultivating his grounds and ornament- 
ing his estate. 

Mr. Bridge was a merchant, having his place of 
business on Central Wharf, Boston. The firm was 
Nathan Bridge & Co., and the late John D. Bates was 
his partner. He and the late Adam W. Thaxter were 
both clerks with Mr. Bridge, and they afterwards con- 
stituted the well-known firm of John D. Bates & Co., 
which was a continuation of the business of the former 
house. An old Boston business man has told me that 
in his time Nathan Bridge was acknowledged to be the 
best-informed merchant in Boston. His acquaintance 
with eminent merchants was extensive, and he knew how 
to entertain elegantly. He was one of the original 



22 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

proprietors of the Harvard Unitarian Church, and made 
the largest subscription toward its building. 

In the fall of 183 1 the Dexter estate was sold at 
auction, and was purchased by Hamilton Davidson, a 
resident of Charlestown, who was in the grain business, 
having a grist-mill at the Neck, and a store on Long 
Wharf, Boston. Mr. Davidson bought an estate with 
a beautiful garden as a part of it, and although he made 
no pretension to the taste and love for it which had been 
shown by the former owner, yet he cared for it and kept 
it in good condition while he lived. From time to time, 
parts of it were sold for the Dexter Row block, the 
Winthrop Church, to E. Lawrence and T. T. Sawyer on 
High Street, and afterwards the balance, including the 
mansion, to Rhodes G. Lockwood, the son-in-law of Mr. 
Davidson. At the death of Mr. Lockwood his son 
Rhodes purchased it, and while in the possession of each 
of these it was carefully dealt with, and was always a 
delightful home and a charming resort for friends and 
visitors. 

When General (President) Jackson visited Boston, Mr. 
Davidson gave a party in his honor. This was before 
the estate had been cut up. The President was pre- 
vented by illness from attending, but Vice-President Van 
Buren and many distinguished men were there. The 
company was very large ; the whole garden was illumi- 
nated; the best music of the time was given by the 
Brigade Band ; the entertainment could not be surpassed. 
The writer was privileged to be present, and, although 
young in years, was quite old enough to bear witness to 
the success and magnificence of the occasion. 

I have thus — too hastily, perhaps — put together 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 23 

some facts in relation to the estate, a part of which is 
now the home of Abraham Lincoln Post. I have not 
failed to show, I think, that its history is an interesting 
one, and I hope and believe that the present occupancy 
of the old mansion is but the beginning of a story to be 
told by somebody in the future as an important part of 
the record of a famous place in Charlestown. 

Let me add, this is not the only famous place in the 
history of the town, and perhaps sometime in the future 
I may try to aid in filling out the record of other places. 

May 12, 1888. 



24 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



II 
The Swift Estate 

James Noble — Artemas Ward — Benjamin Swift — Nathan 
Pratt — James Bird, and others. 



A 



MONG the old houses mentioned in " A Century 
of Town Life " is that formerly occupied by Cap- 
tain Benjamin Swift, which stood on High Street, 
nearly opposite the head of Cordis Street. This house 
was not built by Captain Swift, but came into his 
possession in 1809 by purchase from Captain James 
Noble. 

In 1784 David S. Stearns, of Lunenburg, came to 
Charlestown. He was a merchant. In October, 1796, 
he was married to Catherine Cochran. In 1798 he 
bought a lot of land on Breed's Hill, of Nathaniel 
Austin, and mortgaged it to Daniel Scott, merchant, of 
Boston. The same year this mortgage was assigned to 
Mary Cochran of Watertown, and by her, in 1799, to 
Captain James Noble of Boston; and in 1801 the lot, 
with the house that had been built upon it, was conveyed 
to James Noble by Mary Cochran and David S. Stearns. 
In 1809 Captain Noble conveyed the house and lot to 
Benjamin Swift. 

In 1800 Artemas Ward, son of General Artemas 
Ward, of Shrewsbury, came to Charlestown and lived 
for some time in this house. His wife was Katharine 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 25 

Maria, daughter of Samuel Dexter. In Drake's '< Amer- 
ican Biography "is this notice of him : " Artemas Ward, 
LL.D., Member of Congress 1813-17, Chief Justice of 
Court of Common Pleas i820-'39, and an eminent lawyer. 
He practised law in Boston after 1809 and was frequently 
a member of the Legislature and of the Council." How 
long he occupied Captain Noble's house I cannot tell, 
but probably until 1809, when it was sold to Captain 
Benjamin Swift. Judge Ward afterwards lived on Main 
Street, in the house near to Doctor Thompson's, which 
has since been known as the Ward house. He came to 
Charlestown when his father-in-law was very much en- 
gaged in national affairs ; perhaps to look after his busi- 
ness during his absence from home, or to succeed to it. 

The house about which we are writing had a flat roof, 
and was not unlike the Dexter house and other square 
houses of the time, except that it had two small wings, 
one of which Mr. Ward is said to have used for an office. 
Captain Swift lived in it until 1834, when he sold it to 
Nathan Pratt and James Bird, both business men of long 
standing in the town. They divided the estate, altered 
the house into two tenements, put on the pitched roof 
and gable end, and the low piazza towards High Street. 
Mr. Bird lived there until 1840, when he sold to David 
Snow; and Mr. Pratt until 1843, when he sold to Simon 
G. Shipley. James Damon afterwards lived in Mr. 
Shipley's half ; and, for a little while, Mrs. Henry 
Forster, when she was building her new home on 
Monument Square. 

Nathan Pratt was of the firm of Putnam & Pratt, 
who formerly had a large distillery in town, and at the 
same time a store and office on Central Wharf, Boston, 



26 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

where they were engaged in the Smyrna trade. The 
late Thomas A. Goddard, who married the sister of 
Richard Frothingham, was a clerk with them in Boston, 
and took their foreign business when the firm of lasigi 
& Goddard was formed. Mr. Pratt was also proprietor 
and manager of the extensive powder mills in Acton, 
where he removed ; but he removed again to West 
Cambridge (Arlington), and died there March ii, 1873. 
We must not fail to remember him in our town histories, 
for he generously remembered us. 

The following is copied from the tenth annual report 
of the Board of Managers of the Winchester Home : 

The undersigned, officers of the Winchester Home, 
desire in behalf of the institution to express their grateful 
thanks to Nathan Robbins, James R. Bayley, and Ben- 
jamin S. Pray, executors of the will of the late Nathan 
Pratt, for their kind remembrance in presenting the 
portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Pratt to the Winchester Home. 
This act, following as it does the generous gift of $4,000 
to the Home during the life-time of Mr. Pratt, and the 
receipt of $4,000 additional, by bequest, since his death, 
will endear their memory to this institution and cause 
their portraits to be carefully kept and esteemed among 
its most valued possessions. 

LiVERus Hull, President, 
Abram E. Cutter, Secretary. 

James Bird was for many years engaged in the dry- 
goods business on Main Street, first in the partnership 
known as Sawyer & Bird, then J. & W. Bird, and then 
James Bird & Co. When he sold the Swift house, he 
removed for a while to New York, following his former 
business there. After his return he was for several 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 27 

years city treasurer, and died here in 186-. When he 
went to New York the business was continued by two 
of his clerks, W. H. & T. B. Preston, whose store must 
be remembered by a great many of the present day. 
The late Augustus Hemenway of Boston, who rose to 
such prominence as a merchant and man of wealth, and 
whose name is associated at the present time with various 
charitable institutions and elegant buildings, aided and 
erected from the proceeds of his estate by his public- 
spirited wife, was for a time in early life a clerk with 
Mr. Bird, at his store in Charlestown. 

The Swift house is gone. The garden in front of it, 
terraced down as it was to the stone wall on the street, 
and ornamented with beautiful trees, has given place to 
a block of well-built, comfortable brick houses. It has 
always been regretted that the fagade of this block was 
left so severely plain ; that the enjoyment of the neigh- 
borhood could not have been considered in the plan, with 
a more tasteful front elevation ; but the pleasant occupa- 
tion of the block has compensated in a great measure 
for its objectionable architecture. 

May 19, 1888. 



28 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



III 
The Loring Home 

Colonel Joseph Loring and his Family. 

ACROSS the street from the Swift house was the 
residence of Colonel Joseph Loring. The estate 
was entered from a gateway on High Street, the 
end of the house standing on that street and the front 
looking out upon a large garden, one line of which was 
on Cordis Street. In other words, the estate was on the 
corner of High and Cordis Streets. The garden was a 
very attractive one and well worthy of remembrance, 
especially the tulip-bed, the best, unquestionably, ever 
seen in Charlestown. The bulbs for this bed were orig- 
inally presented to Colonel Loring by a friend, on his 
return from a visit abroad, where they had been selected 
from a fine collection. In our public grounds, at the 
present day, a great many tulips are grown of the earlier 
blooming sorts ; but these of which we are speaking were 
of the later blooming kinds, — byblomens and bizarres, 
— a few of which may still be seen in some of the best 
private gardens. Here, too, there was an uncommonly 
good selection of hardy roses, and flowering shrubs and 
trees ; while fragrant honeysuckles and other climbing 
plants were trellised and grew thriftily over the front 
door. Miss Loring, the daughter of the Colonel, was 
skillful and tasteful in the selection and arrangement of 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 29 

plants and flowers, which was apparent to every visitor 
in this garden. She Uved in the house for many years 
after the death of her father, and will be remembered 
for her constant interest in our charitable institutions 
and in the Unitarian Church. 

Colonel Loring himself was a man and citizen to be 
remembered. He was "given to hospitality," and vis- 
itors at his house, adults or children, could not fail to be 
impressed with this characteristic of the whole family. 
His house was open on all public days, and many of the 
celebrations which took place in town, in his time, were 
wound up with a fine show of fire-works in his garden, at 
his own expense ; not simply the throwing up of a rocket 
or two, although this was a time when fire-works were 
not common or inexpensive, but a show that would have 
been creditable to the town if it had been planned and 
paid for out of its treasury. 

Colonel Loring, in early life, was the first commander 
of the Washington Light Infantry, of Boston, a corps 
that for a very long period was distinguished for its full 
ranks and superior discipline ; and year after year, until 
his death, this company, on its anniversary day, paid its 
old commander a visit at his residence in Charlestown, 
where almost always it was entertained with an elegant 
collation. The Colonel was for many years a weigher 
and gauger in the custom house of the port of Boston 
and Charlestown, a position which was sought after by 
prominent men of the time, as the compensation, made 
up of fees instead of a regular salary, was large. He 
was a very competent and efficient officer and was well- 
known and liked by the merchants of his day. He had 
three sons and one daughter — Henry H., who was an 



30 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

officer in the United States Army; Nathaniel H., a 
lawyer who delivered the oration at the celebration of 
the Fourth of July, 1822, in town, which was afterwards 
printed ; George H., a merchant ; and Mary H., who has 
been referred to. Colonel Loring's wife was the daughter 
of Nathaniel Hall, of Boston, and to each of their chil- 
dren the maiden name of their mother was given as a 
middle name. 

To make room for the block of brick houses built by 
the late Honorable Edward Lawrence a few years ago, 
this old house was torn down, so that the procession of 
the coming Seventeenth of June, as it passes through 
High Street, cannot pay it a salute ; but if the line 
should halt near this spot, and send up cheers in mem- 
ory of Colonel Joseph Loring, it would make no mistake 
in so doing. 

May 26, 1888. 



I 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 31 



IV 
The Hyde Estate 

Francis Hyde — Nathan Webb — Edwin F. Adams. 

THE estate next below Colonel Loring's, on Cordis 
Street, is that now known as the residence of the 
late Edwin F. Adams. The house was built by- 
Francis Hyde, in 1801 or 1802, and was occupied by him 
for many years, till he removed to Baltimore, Maryland. 
His brother Enoch afterwards lived there, I think, for 
seven years. The Hydes were extensively engaged in the 
manufacture of soap and candles, a very important indus- 
try in old Charlestown. The brick factory-building on 
Winthrop Street, recently taken down to make room for 
the new Catholic Church, was built and occupied by 
Francis Hyde, and afterwards by Hyde & Winship and 
Thomas Hyde. Our esteemed fellow-citizen, George 
Hyde, a son of Enoch, spent his boyhood in the Cordis 
Street house, and can tell us all about it. One of the 
daughters was the wife of the late William Arnold, who 
for a very long period kept the leading dry-goods store 
in town. The last store occupied by him was in the 
Savings Bank building, on the corner of Main and 
Henley Streets. Mr. Arnold was for many years a 
director in the Bunker Hill Bank. 

The sunny spot directly in front of the house, where, 
at the present day, vegetation starts up at least a fort- 



32 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

night in anticipation of the general awakening in the 
springtime, was always a charming little flower-garden, 
attracting the attention of passers-by. The main garden 
was filled with trees ; a few apple, of choice quality, but 
mostly cherry, yielding bushels of this fine fruit every 
summer. We get no good cherries in this vicinity now- 
adays, but there was a time when they were abundant 
and of superior quality ; and on this particular spot they * 
were then grown in perfection. The first Baltimore 
oriole (golden robin) I ever saw was on one of these 
trees. In May and June these beautiful birds were 
numerous here ; indeed, blue-birds, song-sparrows, robins, 
yellow-birds, thrushes, woodpeckers, cherry-birds, chick- 
adees, were common visitors in this vicinity. Woodcocks 
were sometimes seen in the lower part of the gardens, ; I 
and occasionally the scarlet tanager stopped awhile to \ 
exhibit his brilliant plumage on the branches of the 
trees. The quiet little chip, or ground-sparrow, was hop- 
ping about everywhere, and the notes of the cuckoo and 
blue-jay were heard every summer and fall. But all this j 
is gone ; and in its place we have now only the confusing 
noise of that bird of questionable value, the English 
sparrow. 

In 1827 the estate was purchased by Nathan Webb, 

of Boston, who removed into it and continued to live i 

I 

there until his death in 1854. Mr. Webb had been a \ 
citizen of prominence in Boston, occupying the positions 
of selectman and assessor for many years, and he was 
repeatedly a member of the State Legislature. He was 
also one of the prudential committee of Dr. Lyman 
Beecher's church, in the time of that distinguished 
preacher's greatest popularity. In early life he was a 



OLD CHARLESTOWN ^3 

teacher, but he afterwards kept a store, I think, on 
Hanover Street. When he came to Charlestown he was 
about sixty years old and had retired from active business. 
He was a man of the old school, of great excellence of 
character, and during all his long residence in it the town 
was graced by his intelligence and gentlemanly bearing. 
The spirit and charm of his home can be fairly inferred 
from its influence in our town affairs. Three of his 
daughters became the wives of three of our native-born 
citizens : Charles Forster, of the firm of Forster, Law- 
rence & Co., whose kindness of heart, honesty, and 
active charity can never be forgotten in Charlestown ; 
Jacob Forster (his brother), a merchant of eminence and 
president of the Fitchburg Railroad Company ; and 
Edwin F. Adams (whose mother was a Forster), of the 
house of Henry Forster & Co., Pernambuco, South 
America, where he resided for some years. Another 
daughter of Mr. Webb was married to Hawkes Lincoln, 
the grandfather of Henry H. Edes. Mrs. Jacob Forster 
is now living with her son, Dr. E. J. Forster, in Mon- 
ument Square. She is so well known and so highly 
esteemed that compHmentary notice in this article seems 
out of place, however gratifying it might be to the writer 
to make it. 

After the death of " Father " Webb, an honorary title 
used by many of our people when he was referred to, the 
home on Cordis Street became the residence of his son- 
in-law, the late Edwin F. Adams, and after his decease 
his wife continued her residence there until she too was 
numbered with those who had passed away. 

The noble quahties and genuine excellence of the 
character of Edwin F. Adams are firmly fixed in the 



34 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

memory of his friends, and the usefulness of his life in 
Charlestown should be stamped into the pages of its 
history. It was his birthplace and his pride ; and he 
was always forward to assist in its improvement. He 
was a strong man, who could say yes, or no, whenever it 
was necessary in the management of any trust committed 
to him ; and as alderman, member of the school commit- 
tee, director in the Bunker Hill Bank, trustee of the 
Warren Institution for Savings, and of the Public Library, 
some of the positions which he held for many years, his 
influence was always important and his work well done. 
While he lived he was among the largest contributors to 
the funds of the library and of the Winchester Home, of 
which also he was a trustee, and in his will, the provisions 
of which were cheerfully and approvingly carried out by 
his wife, were bequests of a thousand dollars to the 
library and six thousand dollars to the Home. 

The Hyde, or Webb, estate has been shorn of its fair 
proportions by the recent erection of a block of wooden 
buildings on the lower part of the garden ; but the old 
house is still there to testify to the beauty of its loca- 
tion and the sunshine of its history in the days that 
are past. 

June 2, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN :^s 



V 
Cordis Street 

Samuel Kidder — Samuel Abbott — Gilbert Tufts. 

CORDIS STREET was laid out by, and named for, 
Captain Joseph Cordis, who lived on Main Street, 
directly opposite Union Street, in the building now 
occupied by S. P. Hill & Co. and others. The street 
has always been a pleasant one for residence, and on it 
have been the homes of many of the former citizens 
of Charlestown who were active in its business and 
prominent in its affairs. I have now before me a fac- 
simile of perhaps the first business-card of one of these 
persons. Under an appropriate heading on the card 
is the following : 

DRUGGIST AND APOTHECARY, 

SAMUEL KIDDER, JR., 

UNDER WASHINGTON HALL, MAIN STREET, 

CHARLESTOWN, MASS. 

1804. 

Washington Hall was not built until 1812-13. Mr. 
Kidder was the first occupant of the store under it. 
The date, 1804, was the date of the first estabUshment 
of his business, which was commenced in the small store 
now numbered 1 3 Main Street and occupied as a barber- 



;^6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

shop. This was the beginning of the business still 
carried on in the old Washington Hall building under 
the name of Samuel Kidder & Co. The late Daniel 
White, who on his decease left a trust-fund for the poor 
of the town, was brought up with, and became the 
partner of, Doctor Kidder, and here they did business 
together for thirty-four years. John Stowell, who now 
owns the Washington Hall building and occupies a part 
of it, was also one of Doctor Kidder's boys and success- 
ors in business, and his estimate of the character and 
ability of his old employer is, I know, a very high one. 
Elias Crafts, who for so many years kept the apothecary- 
store at Crafts' Corner, at the junction of Main and 
Warren streets, was also prepared for his career of use- 
fulness in Doctor Kidder's store. The late Addison 
Gilmore, who became famous as a railroad manager and 
was at one time president of the Western (Boston & 
Albany) Railroad, was a pulverizer of drugs in the back 
store of this firm when a young man ; but his mind was 
even then on higher things, and he soon found out that 
the carbonic acid gas which escapes from the fermenta- 
tion of molasses would convert pearl ash into saleratus. 
He had made the acquaintance of Jacob Foss, the fore- 
man at Putnam & Pratt's distillery, and they at once 
secured permission to place boxes over the fermenting 
vats there, and to manufacture saleratus in this way. It 
proved to be a very profitable thing for them, and 
although he still kept the pestle and mortar busy he was 
laying the foundation of a fortune by his business at the 
distillery. Foss & Gilmore afterwards purchased the 
distillery, and were together in the business long enough 
to become rich men. Gilmore afterwards was very much 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 37 

interested in railroads, and, as I have said, became famous 
in their management. 

Jacob Foss was the patriotic citizen who is remem- 
bered whenever the old flag is flying in Charlestown on 
public days, a fund for the payment of which was pro- 
vided for in his will. He will be the worthy subject of 
a special article at some future time. 

Samuel Kidder & Co. were interested with Benjamin 
Bell, a well-known chemist of the town, in the manufact- 
ure of tartaric acid by a new formula of Bell's, which 
for many years was kept profoundly secret, and great 
gain was the result. The building in Winthrop Street 
which had been used by the Hydes as a soap-factory was 
afterwards purchased by Kidder & Co., and this Charles- 
town specialty was produced there in large quantities and 
distributed all over the country. This business was con- 
tinued until 1877. Rochelle salts, the basis of Sedlitz 
powders and other chemicals, were prepared by Kidder 
& Co. in large quantities and sold to the wholesale drug- 
gists far and near. Dr. Samuel Kidder was a man to 
be remembered as a citizen of the town. The local 
apothecary-shop of the firm could never be too highly 
appreciated ; and the amount of good done in it by the 
careful selection of first-class medicines, and by uncom- 
mon attention in their preparation and delivery, can 
hardly be estimated. 

Doctor Kidder's estate on Cordis Street was the next 
below the Hydes', on the same side of the street. He 
lived here for some years and then removed to Medford. 
He continued in business in town until 1852, coming to 
the store regularly every day. In front of his house on 
Cordis Street was another noticeable garden of the town. 



38 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

A look through his gateway would give you a view of 
regularly formed flower-beds, edged with box, skillfully 
clipped and shaped. Great bunches of red peonies would 
stare you in the face, while a profusion of old-fashioned 
damask roses filled the air with their delightful fragrance. 
Persian lilacs, snowballs, and snowberries did their part 
in making up the arrangement, and white lilies, the 
brilliant red London pride, the brilliant blue larkspur, 
various kinds of flox, and canterbury-bells were worked 
into the design where they would best improve the gen- 
eral effect. Hybrid perpetual roses were then unknown, 
but a few moss-roses had their prominent places in the 
garden, and the good old-fashioned white and cinnamon 
roses lifted themselves high on the corners of the house 
and around the fence-posts. The fruit-garden was much 
like others in the vicinity, with the addition of one or 
two Saint Michael pear-trees which always yielded a good 
crop. The boys in the neighborhood had to pray often 
not to be led into temptation, while the pears were 
ripening. 

Doctor Kidder sold the estate to Samuel Abbott, who 
resided here for thirty years or more, until he died in 
1852. He was a partner with Ralph W. Jewett in the 
West India goods business, on Main and Back (now 
Warren) streets, the store running through from street 
to street. The business, commenced in this way, before 
18 12, when they purchased the store, was continued by 
Jewett & Abbott, Samuel Abbott & Co., and William 
Abbott, a brother, until 1875, when the store was torn 
down to give place to the brick building now owned 
and occupied by Louis Klous as a clothing-store. The 
Abbott house on Cordis Street was demolished to make 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 39 

room for a block of brick houses which cover the whole 
estate and are now the residences of Colonel Solomon 
Parsons, J. T. Reed, and others. 

Next below this estate was that of Gilbert Tufts, the 
father of Honorable Arthur W. Tufts, who, a few years 
ago, removed from this, his native place, to Boston High- 
lands, where he has become somewhat distinguished. 
Gilbert Tufts was of the firm of Nathan Tufts & Co., 
extensive tanners, who must be mentioned hereafter in a 
notice of the business of the town. Mr. Tufts sold this 
estate to Charles Forster, and removed into a new house 
on Washington Street. Mr. Forster resided here for 
many years and then removed to Somerville. Previous 
to this, a portion of the estate had been sold to Charles 
Thompson, who built on it the brick house so long occu- 
pied by him, now the residence of Doctor Houghton. 

June 9, 1888. 



40 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



VI 
On Cordis Street 

Charles Thompson — Samuel Thompson — The Academy — 
Captain David Low — Richard Baker. 

CHARLES THOMPSON'S garden remains as it 
was when he died in 1871. It is quite large, 
inclosed by an iron fence on two sides, and by a 
brick wall on the other. It differs from the other 
gardens which have been described, as it has a buckthorn 
hedge all along the side of the fence and a profusion of 
climbing plants, begonias, Chinese wistarias, and wood- 
bines, which cover the south side of the house and all 
the wall on one side of the garden. Altogether, it is a 
very pleasant place to look upon. 

Mr. Thompson was a very prominent man in the town 
in his time. He held many of its most important offices, 
and the business of the old town-meetings was hardly 
thought to be legal without him as moderator. He was 
indeed a dignified and well-posted chairman of public 
assemblies. In the Legislature of the State as an hon- 
orable senator, and as member of the Governor's Council, 
he commanded attention, and he was one year the Dem- 
ocratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor. He was a 
director in several railroad companies, and president of 
the Charlestown Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a 
successful institution under his administration for nearly 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 41 

twenty years. His youth was spent in the office of 
J. W. Langdon, Boston, and he was an excellent business 
man. He was afterwards established with his father in 
the iron business, the store of the firm being in a build- 
ing still owned, I think, by his family, on the corner of 
Main Street and the alley-way leading to the First 
Church. Luther Lapham, who died in Medford some- 
what more than a year ago, was brought up with him 
and became his partner. Thompson & Lapham had 
stores in Charlestown and on old City Wharf, Boston, 
and did a large business. The Charlestown store was 
afterwards sold to Nathaniel Lamson. Honorable Fran- 
cis Thompson spent his youth in the Boston store, was 
afterwards joined as partner, and continued the busi- 
ness in Custom House Street, Boston, nearly up to 
the time of his death. The house was always success- 
ful, and confidence in its integrity and fair dealing was 
perfect. 

Luther Lapham's residence in Charlestown covered a 
long term of years ; and, as he never married, he made 
his home much of the time with his partner on Cordis 
Street. He had all the qualities which are necessary to 
make up an agreeable and really high-minded man ; and 
he will be remembered as such a man by all who ever 
had any dealing with him or enjoyed his friendship 
socially. After he withdrew from the firm of Thompson 
& Lapham, he busied himself for some years in the man- 
agement of several ships, of which he was the owner. 

Samuel Thompson's house, which was torn down after 
its purchase by Charles Thompson, was of wood, two 
stories high, with its end on the street, like the houses 
above it. Samuel Thompson died in 18 15. He was 



1 



42 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



only thirty-six years old, but he had lived long enough 
to make an impression of his intelligence and worth 
upon the community about him. He had much to do in 
the formation of the First Universalist Society. At his 
house was held the first meeting to consider the subject 
of building the church. He was one of the building- 
committee and saw the edifice completed and dedicated. 
He wrote the original hymn sung on the occasion, and 
several other hymns which were in the book of hymns 
used for some years in the services. He was a pure- 
minded man, full of religious sentiment, and his early 
death caused great sorrow in Charlestown. His family 
resided in the house here referred to for many years after 
his decease. Among the descendants of his family, I 
think now of Rev. Dr. Henry Blanchard, of Portland, 
whose mother was the only daughter of Samuel Thomp- 
son ; and Eben Francis Thompson, a young lawyer, of 
Worcester. 

On the southerly corner of Cordis and Warren Streets 
was Mrs. Wellman's candy-store, where a fair trade of 
one cent for a headed stick of molasses candy could 
always be made ; and where, on holiday occasions, the 
old shopkeeper was always provided with a stock of 
knick-knacks ready to be distributed among the children 
in the neighborhood in exchange for the fourpence- 
ha'pennies, ninepences, half-pistareens and pistareens 
(coins then in common use) which they had received 
from their parents in amounts deemed proper for the 
day's expenditure ; and she was pretty sure to have the 
larger part of this money in her till before the sun went 
down. Dear old Mrs. Wellman ! She filled her place 
well, humble though it was, and to remember her with a 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 43 

word of praise, after the lapse of so many years, is a 
pleasure to one of her customers. 

Next to this shop was the residence of Captain William 
Brown, a master mariner. He had a son, a lively boy 
with red hair and a temperament to match, and with as 
much mischief in him as was in any of the rest of us in the 
neighborhood. The lot of land in the rear of this house 
was not much cultivated, but a look over the fence from 
Warren Street would expose a wild growth of hemp, 
Jerusalem artichokes, and sunflowers. The wooden 
buildings referred to are gone, and the brick block on 
the corner of Cordis and Warren streets covers the 
ground they occupied. The double house with its front 
on the street, which still remains, was the residence of 
Bushrod W. Young and Captain David Low. Major 
Young was a military man, for some years on the staff 
of one of the generals of the Massachusetts militia ; and 
he always rode a good horse. To see him in his showy 
uniform, mounting his horse and riding away for the 
muster-fields, was one of the enjoyments of the boys of 
that day. Captain Low was part owner and master of 
the brig Air tic, the other owners being Thomas Lamb, 
of Boston, and William Sawyer, of Charlestown ; and 
his regular voyages were to Charleston, South Carolina, 
loading there with sea-island cotton for Havre, and 
returning to Boston with a cargo of French goods. The 
Arctic W3.S the only regular French packet coming to this 
port. Captain Low removed from Cordis Street to 
Washington Street, where he afterwards built a fine 
brick house, in which he resided until his death in 1830. 
His sons, David and Samuel, were popular young men 
in Charlestown. David died young. Samuel went to 



44 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Paris and was a merchant there for many years. The 
late Lynde A. Huntington, who built the house on the 
corner of Monument Square and Chestnut Street, where 
he resided until his death, married the daughter of 
Captain Low. Mr. Huntington will be remembered as 
connected with various charitable associations in the 
town. He was one of the trustees of the Old Ladies' 
Home, and of the Daniel White fund for the poor. He 
was an intelligent, upright, successful business man. His 
heart was in the right place. He was a perfect gentleman 
always and to everybody, and altogether such a man 
as any town should be proud to refer to as one of its 
citizens. 

The painted brick building on the comer of Cordis 
Street Avenue was the residence of the late Abraham 
Andrews, a graduate of Dartmouth College, who came 
here in 1 8 1 3 to take charge of the grammar school on 
the Town Hill. He held his position for two years, and 
was in every respect successful. The trustees reported 
on his retirement, " It is due to his ability and fidelity 
that we declare in the most public manner that he has 
filled his station entirely to our satisfaction." He was 
afterwards principal of the Doane Street School, in 
Boston, for about forty years, during which time he kept 
up his residence in Charlestown. 

The building on the opposite corner of Cordis Street 
and Cordis Street Avenue which has recently been 
remodeled and enlarged was erected by Timothy Walker 
and was used for some time as an academy. Oliver 
Brown was its principal. For a while, after his resigna- 
tion here, and before he went to Boston, Mr. Andrews 
used it for a private school, fitting for Harvard College 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 45 

some of the boys of that day who as men were after- 
wards prominent and active in the affairs of the town. 
Among them were the late Arthur W. Austin and 
WilHam Sawyer. After the academy building had been 
altered into a dwelling-house, Captain Richard Baker, a 
shipmaster of high standing, was one of its occupants. 
His residence in Charlestown was a long one. He died 
at his home on Washington Street, December 3, 1876. 
His son, Richard Baker, Jr., spent his boyhood in our 
schools and on our play-grounds, was married here, and 
remained as a citizen until his removal to Dorchester. 
He lived there a few years, and then removed to Boston, 
where he died January i, 1875. He was one of the 
ablest and boldest merchants ever engaged in business 
in Boston. The unparalleled success of the firm of 
William F. Weld & Co., of which he was the master 
spirit, will long be referred to in the business history of 
Boston ; and high on the hst of those who have planned 
and energetically carried out comprehensive commercial 
enterprises will stand the name of Richard Baker, Jr. 
The firm, at one time, was among the largest ship-owners 
in the world, and this part of the business, especially, 
was kept in motion and guided by our Charlestown 
boy. 

Farther up the street lived Timothy Bryant, a very 
genial man, who spent the most of his life as an official 
of the Union Bank. The house in which he last lived, 
the inviting domicile two stories high, still standing, with 
its front on the street, nearly opposite the Abbott estate, 
was built by him ; but his father's house, above, with a 
brick end on the street, is yet a part of the estate, 
though known as the Caldwell house, — his relative, 



46 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

James Caldwell, having resided there for a long time 
after his father's death. 

We have lingered about Cordis Street for a good 
while, and have yet something to add to what we have 
written. We have incidentally been reminded of many 
men of mark, whose residence in the old town was 
certainly long enough for them to be included in its 
history. 

June 23, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 47 



VII 
The Thompson Homestead 

Timothy Thompson and his Family. 

ON the corner of Cordis Street and Back Lane (now 
Warren Street) was a lot of land on which, a little 
beyond the center from Cordis Street, stood an 
old-fashioned dwelling-house, painted yellow. It was 
two stories high on the front, and one in the rear, the 
pitch of the roof on that side running farther down than 
on the front. The house was surrounded with shrubbery 
and fruit-trees, among them an abundance of quince- 
bushes, the blossoms of which are so charming to the 
eye in spring, and the fruit, skillfully preserved, so 
important an item in the make-up of an old-time tea- 
table. Near the house was a well, for years a blessing 
to the neighborhood, for the water was very pure, and 
many were the buckets that were filled from the spout 
of the old pump, the handle of which was almost con- 
stantly in motion. At an earlier date, an old oaken 
bucket hung in the well, which, with a sweep, did the 
work afterwards facilitated by the pump. And here it 
may not be out of place to allude to a fact of some inter- 
est in a recollection of the old town, — namely, that 
Samuel Woodworth, the author of 

**The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket. 
The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well,'* 



48 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

was for some time a clerk with Commodore John 
Downes, in the Navy Yard, and a resident of Charles- 
town. 

From the windows of the old house, before the laying 
out of Cordis and Pleasant streets, the occupants could 
look out upon green fields running up from Back Lane 
to the battle-field, or watch the cattle as they were graz- 
ing in the pastures of Captain Cordis, John Hay, and 
others. Later on, the laying out of lots, the construc- 
tion of streets, the erection of buildings, the march of 
improvement, were open to their view, and the growing 
importance of the town must have been a pleasant theme 
for them to dwell upon. 

The house to which we have referred was originally 
the carpenter-shop of Timothy Thompson, a descendant 
of James Thompson, " who, early in 1630, when he was 
thirty -seven years old, joined the large company of about 
fifteen hundred persons who, under the lead of Governor 
Winthrop, landed on the shores of New England during 
that eventful year." James Thompson, therefore, was 
one of the first settlers of Charlestown. He was 
admitted to membership in the First Church in August, 
1633, and in the following December was made a free- 
man of the town. He had planting-grounds in i635-'36, 
and soon came into possession of considerable of an 
estate in lands, which he no doubt cultivated and used 
as a yeoman or farmer. He soon, with others, pushed 
his way into what was then a wilderness, and fixed his 
home in that part of Charlestown which in 1642 was 
cut off and incorporated as a distinct municipality under 
the name of Woburn. 

Timothy Thompson, whose home and shop on Back 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 49 

Lane we have referred to, was bom in Woburn, but came 
to Charlestown some time before 1773, as he was taxed 
that year. On January 3, 1775, he was married to 
Mary Frothingham, daughter of Joseph Frothingham, 
chaise-maker, whose residence then was on the Main 
Street about where the Clapp estate is now situated. 
Mr. Thompson was a sergeant in the mihtary company 
of the town, commanded by Captain Josiah Harris, and 
was with that company at the battle of Bunker Hill. 
Just before his marriage he had built a house for Seth 
Sweetser, the old school-master, a part of which he 
occupied. This house was on Main Street, near Town 
Hill, not far from the present junction of Harvard and 
Main streets. The stone building occupied now as a 
furniture-store may cover a part of the same land on 
which the little house was erected. When the final 
settlement for building the house was made, there was 
an understanding in regard to its future ownership, and 
three years' rent in advance was paid by Mr. Thompson 
to Mr. Sweetser. Here then the newly married couple 
were established and happy in their first home. But 
this promising beginning was not to last long. 

On the 19th of April, 1775, the young wife was spend- 
ing the day at her father's house, and news of the fight 
at Lexington and Concord was received while she was 
there. Her father came home in the afternoon to inform 
the family that the British soldiers were on their way 
back in confusion, that it was unsafe for the women and 
children to remain in town, and that arrangements had 
been made for their removal. He told his daughter that 
her husband was too much engaged to see her, that she 
could go to her own house, but must gather up speedily 



50 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

what little she could take away ; and when she did leave 
she had with her only what could be taken in a small 
bag. Everything else was abandoned, even the pot of 
beans and a few loaves of bread in the oven, and a 
quarter of veal hanging in the cellar-way. There was 
great hurrying at the ferry-way at the Neck where the 
river was to be crossed (where Maiden Bridge now 
stands), and before they got started one of the party, a 
young man, was killed by a shot from the musket of 
one of the returning soldiers. The family were safely 
landed on the other side of the river, and were taken to 
a place of safety in the country. They had left their 
homes never to return to them again, the battle of 
Bunker Hill and the burning of the town taking place 
soon after. 

When the force of the shock at the destruction of 
their property had been spent, many of the inhabitants 
of the town returned to rebuild, and among them came 
Mr. Thompson, with his wife and his first child, Joseph, 
who had been born in Woburn. He purchased a lot of 
land on Main Street, near one belonging to his father-in- 
law, Joseph Frothingham, with whom he temporarily 
resided. This lot of land was situated where Thompson 
Street now meets Main Street. On it he put a building 
in which was one finished room for his residence, the 
* rest being occupied as a shop. In that room his second 
son, Tirhothy, was born, February 24, 1777, the first 
male child born in Charlestown after the battle of 
Bunker Hill. Not long after, Mr. Thompson enlarged 
his lot by a new purchase, and, to make room for a new 
house which he contemplated building, the shop was 
removed from Main Street to Back Lane, and was placed 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 51 

upon a lot of land there which he afterwards bought. 
The shop was transformed into a dwelling-house, one 
room at a time, and was his residence until 1794, when 
the new house on Main Street was completed, into which 
some time during that year he removed. The house on 
Back Lane was that described at the beginning of this 
article, and it was the birthplace of all his children but 
Joseph, the eldest, who was bom in Woburn, and Ben- 
jamin, the youngest, who first saw the light in the Main 
Street house in 1798. Joseph, the first-born of the fam- 
ily, lived but seven years, from September 12, 1775, till 
April 5, 1782. Timothy, Samuel, Abraham Rand, 
Joseph 2d, Mary (Mrs. Richard Frothingham), Lydia, 
Susannah (Mrs. William Sawyer), and Thomas Miller 
were born, as we have said, in the building removed from 
Main Street to Back Lane. Of one of these children, 
Samuel, we said something in our last notice of Cordis 
Street. The others lived and died in Charlestown, some 
of them being very prominent in its affairs. We shall 
say more of them hereafter. Thomas Miller died in 
Boston. 

The house which took the place of the shop on Main 
Street was the residence of Timothy Thompson, senior, 
from the time it was built, in 1796, until his death, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1834, when he was eighty-four years old. It 
still stands on the corner of Thompson Street, and was 
occupied for many years as an apothecary's shop by the 
late William B. Morse. It was an oblong house, with 
its end on the street, and with a little garden in front, 
part of which, some time after the death of the old gen- 
tleman, was covered by a one-story, flat-roofed building, 
the same now occupied by D. J. Hart & Co.'s provision- 



52 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

store. The garden was inclosed by a pretty wooden 
fence on the street, with a gateway, through which was 
a passage to the front door. The entry of the house 
was through the center, from the garden to Thompson 
Street ; and a delightfully cool place was this entry on a 
hot summer day. A cheery place, too, for here came 
the neighbors to reciprocate hearty greetings, to sit 
pleasantly together, to talk over affairs, and to discuss 
the questions and events of their day. One of these 
neighbors, old Mr. Jacob Forster, father of the Forsters 
mentioned before, was the very intimate friend of Mr. 
Thompson, and for years they hardly missed an evening 
without calling on each other. The lower room of the 
house on Main Street was for many years occupied by 
tenants for business purposes ; at one time by a clock- 
maker, again as the office of a doctor of medicine, but 
most of the time as a millinery-shop. Some of the high 
old-fashioned clocks standing now in the entries of 
modern houses were originally put together and set in 
motion in this room ; some of the earlier attempts at 
dentistry were made here, and nobody can tell the num- 
ber of bonnets, large and small, which were trimmed 
here by women of taste and shown off in the churches 
and public places by the women of that generation. 

Among the occupants of this shop was Mrs. Sarah 
Colby, who came here from Waterville, Maine, bringing 
her children with her, three sons and one daughter. She 
hired this room, lived in it, and employed herself success- 
fully as a milliner, continuing here for some years. 
Afterwards she purchased the wooden building on Main 
Street, the next below Kidder & Co.'s apothecary-shop, 
where she remained, I think, until her death. She was 



OLD CHARLESTOWN S3 

very enterprising in business and a very estimable 
woman. Her children, whose education was commenced 
in our schools, were fitted, under the good influence of 
their mother, for what they afterwards became, prom- 
inent and useful members of society. She made sacri- 
fices for them in their childhood, and was repaid in after 
life in their high standing and excellence of character. 
Mrs. Colby was an active worker in the First Baptist 
Church. She was a woman of marked courage, taste, 
and ability. 

Her second son, Gardner, commenced his business life 
in the wholesale and retail grocery-store of Phelps & 
Thompson, whose place of business was on the spot 
where now is the store of A. N. Swallow & Co. He 
continued with them until about 1830, when he opened 
a retail dry-goods store with his brother, Josiah, on the 
corner of Washington and Bromfield streets, in Boston. 
He was in the dry-goods trade for many years as a 
retailer, jobber, and manufacturer, and was very success- 
ful. He was also a ship-owner engaged in the China 
trade, and a leading man in the management of some of 
the western railroads. The Colby University, of Water- 
ville, to which he made a donation of fifty thousand 
dollars, was named for him. 

Another resident in the front room of this house was 
Miss Alice Dowse, a relative of Rev. Chandler Robbins, 
D.D., and of his brother. Rev. Samuel Robbins, both 
distinguished Unitarian clergymen. The younger of 
these brothers spent a good deal of time here while 
studying for the ministry, and the top of the old mansion 
was his favorite place for meditation. The Dowses were 
among the earliest settlers in the town, and the mother 



54 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of these two clergymen was a Charlestown woman. 
Thomas Dowse, the bibliophilist, who gave his very 
valuable library to the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
was born in Charlestown, December 28, 1772. 

Mr. Thompson's estate ran through from Main to 
Warren Street, and the three-story wooden house now 
on the corner of Thompson and Warren streets was the 
second shop built by him which was afterwards converted 
into a dwelling-house. It was occupied for many years 
by his son-in-law, William Sawyer, all but one of whose 
children were born here. The youngest was born in the 
house on the comer of High and School streets, recently 
taken down to make room for a block of wooden houses 
erected by the late Francis B. Austin. The house just 
named was purchased by Mr. Sawyer in 1828, when it 
was built, and was occupied by his family until the death 
of his widow at the advanced age of ninety-five years, 
January 9, 1886. Mr. Sawyer kept a dry-goods store 
in town for many years, and was also engaged somewhat 
in navigation. He had for partners, at different times, 
Joseph Thompson and James Bird. The late Seth S. 
Lynde, of Maiden, who became a famous dry-goods 
dealer both in Boston and New York, was his apprentice, 
and boarded with him for several years in the Thompson 
Street house. 

Timothy Thompson, concerning whose estate we have 
written so much, lived in town over sixty years. He 
was an industrious, thrifty man from youth to old age. 
He was originally a carpenter, but for the greater part 
of his life a shipchandler. He was active in town 
affairs, and held many of its important offices. He was 
a man of decided opinions, ready always to act on his 



OLD CHARLESTOWN SS 

judgment, and not afraid to take responsibility when it 
was necessary. It has been said of him, without ever 
being questioned, I think, that at one time when he was a 
selectman, having the ballot-box in charge on an election- 
day, he carried the box, against the fierce remonstrance 
of many of his fellow-citizens, to the door of the hall to 
receive the vote of a political opponent who had been 
brought from a sick bed to exercise the right of suffrage, 
but who found himself unable to get upstairs. As we 
have said before, he was with the Charlestown company 
at the battle of Bunker Hill ; and in the war of 1812 he 
mortgaged his house to use the money for the purchase 
of timber to build barracks for the government. In a 
word, his proper place in the history of the old town is 
that of a good citizen, trustworthy and patriotic. 

July 7, 1888. 



56 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



VIII 
The McNeil Estate 

Lynde's Point and its Improvement — The Homestead — Archi- 
bald McNeil — Samuel Jaques — Visit of Lafayette. 

THERE is a house now standing on Washington 
Street, between what are called Washington Place 
and Washington Square, about which it seems to 
me something of very considerable interest may be 
written. It is a square, double house now, but it was 
originally a square house without division, surrounded by 
a large lot of land kept in good condition — the attractive 
residence of prominent business men. Let us look a 
little at its history. 

Wyman's " Genealogies and Estates in Charlestown " 
gives us this inforrnation : " Daniel McNeil, of London- 
derry, or Antrim, or Bush, Ireland, sold his estates and 
started for America the day King George II. was born." 
His eldest son was William, who was a ropemaker in 
Boston. William had several children. One of them 
was a captain in the United States Navy, and another, 
Captain Archibald McNeil, followed the business of his 
father. The ropewalks of the McNiels were on a field, 
situated where now are High and Pearl streets in Boston 
proper. They were destroyed by fire about 1793, and 
in 1 794 Captain Archibald McNeil purchased, in Charles- 
town, a tract of land of about twenty acres known at the 



< 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 57 

time as Lynde's Point. It was a point of land extending 
along and out into Charles River, having its narrowest 
end where the State Prison now stands. Along the 
bank of the river, just about where the buildings now 
making the lower side of Lynde Street are situated, a 
ropewalk was built, the head-house of which was on 
Ropemaker's Lane, as near as may be where Arrow 
Street now makes a junction with Lynde Street. To 
this place the business of McNeil was brought, and it 
was carried on here for many years. 

The twenty or more acres of land purchased by Cap- 
tain McNeil included what is now Washington Street, 
that part of Rutherford Avenue formerly called Rich- 
mond Street, and portions of Bow, Union, and Austin 
streets. When these streets were laid out, lots were sold to 
those who afterwards erected dwellings there. The sites 
of the Baptist Church, Austin Street, and of Saint Mary's 
Church, Richmond Street, are portions of this land, and 
the State Prison stands on the end of Lynde's Point. 
When the bargain with the Prison Committee was made 
for the land, it was provided, among other things, that 
the State should have a right of way forty-five feet wide, 
between the ropewalk and the mansion. This was before 
Washington Street was laid out. The mansion was the 
square house which still stands on Washington Street, 
to which we referred at the beginning, and the history 
of which we are looking into. It was the residence of 
Captain McNeil, and was built by him sometime previous 
to 1800. We will try to describe this mansion and 
estate as it probably looked at that time. 

As we have said, the house is still on the spot where 
it was originally erected, but it was then one large square 



58 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

house with its front looking towards Bow Street. It was 
surrounded by a large area of land, green fields, and 
pastures, the road leading to it being the passage-way of 
forty-five feet between it and the ropewalk. The streets 
now near it were not then laid out ; they were to come 
in the future. Prison Point Bridge was not built, and 
the State had only just purchased a lot on which to erect 
a prison. The ropewalk was low enough down on the 
bank of the river to leave the view from the mansion 
unobstructed ; and the view was that of the river as it 
stretched along by Barrell's farm (the present site of the 
McLean Asylum), Cambridge, Brookline, Brighton, and 
the West End of Boston. Beyond the river were 
marshes, fields, hills, and trees, with here and there the 
houses of those who occupied and cultivated the land. 
To make the view picturesque and beautiful there were 
the elm-trees, formerly so numerous, and many of which 
can still be seen standing along the road in Somerville 
and on the grounds of the McLean Asylum. 

A pleasant residence indeed must have been that of 
Captain Archibald McNeil, for some years after he built 
the house and occupied it. But the time for change soon 
came, and about 1803, when very likely it was thought 
to be too valuable for a single estate, the land was laid out 
into streets and lots, and sold — rapidly, it would seem 
— to those who afterwards built homes for themselves 
and who were among the most thrifty and intelligent 
citizens of the old town for many years. Such familiar 
names in Charlestown as Devens, Goodwin, Tufts, 
Sweetser, Forster, Frothingham, Edmands, Warren, 
Barker, Harris, Wiley, Kendall, are on the records from 
1799 t^ 1806 as purchasers of lots laid out by Captain 



I 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 59 

McNeil, and the bearers of those names are remembered 
as the long-time occupants of houses built by them. 

Washington Street very soon became one of the 
pleasantest for residences in the town, and its desirability 
for this purpose was maintained for more than half a 
century, at least. Captain McNeil, when cutting up his 
land, reserved a very large lot for his mansion, and it 
was not only retained by him while he lived there, but 
after its sale to Colonel Samuel Jaques, in 18 14, it was 
still a very large estate. The front on Washington 
Street was five hundred and forty feet, and the rear on 
Richmond Street nearly as much, and it ran through 
from Bow to Union streets. The area of the whole 
was about two acres. The stable and outbuildings were 
on Richmond Street, and the stable-yard was inclosed 
by a high fence. All the land outside of this, with the 
exception of a small lot directly in front of the house, 
inclosed for a garden, had around it a finished rail fence 
with turn-stiles for entrance on Washington and Bow 
Streets. In this garden, on a tree trained on the wall, 
originated the Jaques Admirable peach, for some years 
famous among the fruit-gTOwers of Middlesex County. 
The stable was finished in the old style, with large doors, 
and round windows in the gable ends, and the carriage- 
house and sheds were ornamented with arched doorways 
and openings, such as can still be seen on very old 
estates in country towns. 

Colonel Samuel Jaques, who purchased the estate in 
1 8 14, was born in Wilmington, Massachusetts, but came 
to Charlestown when he was a young man. He was 
engaged here in the West India goods business, at first 
being a partner with Matthew Skilton. Their place of 



Go OLD CHARLESTOWN 

business was on Main Street, near Henley, just about 
where Francis Sager has now a tailor's shop. A relative 
of Colonel Jaques was a partner with Oilman Stanley, 
under the firm name of Jaques & Stanley, afterwards 
Stanley, Reed & Co. These had their store on the 
corner of Main and Henley streets, the spot now occu- 
pied by the building of the Warren Institution for 
Savings. Colonel Jaques was also inspector-general of 
hops, and was interested largely in the exportation of this 
article, which was at one time an important business in 
Charlestown, His wharf, where the inspection and 
shipment of hops was carried on, was on the river, — on 
that part of it known as Charles River Bay, — and was 
about half-way between Mason and Arrow streets. In 
the fall of the year Jaques Wharf was always a very busy 
place. 

Colonel Jaques was an enterprising man, but not 
always successful in his business schemes. Great fond- 
ness for animals was perhaps his distinguishing trait. 
He had some peculiar notions about breeding, the result 
of much study and observation, and he was successful in 
many experiments he made in changing the form and 
color of animals and increasing their value. After he 
purchased the McNeil place, it was stocked with horses, 
cattle, sheep^ and birds, and it became celebrated as the 
place where things excellent and extraordinary in this 
line were collected and could be seen and obtained. He 
had a famous thoroughbred EngHsh stallion, beautiful in 
form, the richest bay in color, and at the time at the 
head of the hst for speed. " Bell-founder," as he was 
called, can be read about in the books as an animal of 
extraordinary pedigree, and one of the best trotting 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 6i 

horses in the country. He had also a pacer, " Paugus," 
and a running horse, " Black Joke." Short-horned 
Durham cattle, and common cattle of marked good 
points, merino sheep, wild geese, ducks, and other birds 
of beautiful plumage, could be seen grazing in his pasture 
or swimming in the little pond in one corner of it. At 
one time buffaloes could be seen by passers down Wash- 
ington and Bow streets, as the Colonel had two of them 
feeding in his pasture. He also had fine dogs — grey- 
hounds, setters, and spaniels, and a full kennel of fox- 
hounds, kept not for ornament, but for use. 

In the middle of October, the time of the first frosts, 
and early in the morning, when all Nature was smiling 
to usher in the queen of morn, the huntsmen. Colonel 
Jaques and his friends, began to wind the mellow, mellow 
horn. There are still many residents of Charlestown 
who can remember when they were awakened by this 
stirring music, and to have seen Colonel Jaques and his 
party, in hunters' garb, followed by the hounds, in pairs 
chained together, as they were galloping their horses up 
Main Street bound for a fox-hunt ; — not the pursuit of 
some poor little creature provided for the purpose, to be 
let loose at the proper time and hunted down by the 
dogs, but the starting up of wild animals on their own 
ground, where the foxes had holes and hiding-places and 
an even chance of escape ; and where, perhaps, they 
were having their own little hunt about the barn-yards 
and hen-coops of the dwellers in that region. All this 
took place in Charlestown and the adjoining towns of 
Medford and Woburn. It must be remembered, how- 
ever, that it was before a part of the town had been cut 
off and annexed to West Cambridge (Arlington), and 



62 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



1 



before another part had been made the town (now city) 
of Somerville. 

I would give you an account of who composed this 
party of hunters, of a day's sport in chase of reynard, 
the jollification over the captured brush (fox-tail), the 
dinner at the Black Horse Tavern in Woburn, and the 
winding up at night ; but it will be more interesting to 
the reader if I print, in the next chapter, a note I 
have received from a Charlestown boy, George Tapley, 
of Revere, who sometimes, in his youth, accompanied 
the party and has a distinct recollection of everything 
that took place. 

Colonel Jaques lived in the house on Washington 
Street until 1832 or 1833, when he removed to the Ten 
Hills Farm, where he remained until his death, March 
27, 1859, aged eighty-three years. He was widely 
known, and had for friends many of the most prominent 
men of the time. Such distinguished people as Colonel 
Thomas Handyside Perkins, Kirk Boott, and Daniel 
Webster were among his visitors at the old mansion and 
the Ten Hills Farm ; and he could always interest them 
in his horses and other stock, and in his peculiar views 
as to their management and the possibilities in their 
improvement. Moreover, he was a gentleman himself, | 
courteous and entertaining. It has been said that he 
entertained General Lafayette in the old mansion, in 
1825. Lafayette made two visits to Charlestown — the 
first on Friday, August 27, 1824, and again when the 
corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument was laid, 1 
June 17, 1825. On the first visit he was met at the 
center of the bridge by the chief marshal (Colonel 
Jaques) and his aids, and conducted to the Square, ^ 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 63 

where a committee of citizens of the town was in 
waiting to receive him. A procession was then formed 
and escorted by a regiment of light infantry and a 
battalion of artillery to Bunker Hill, where Doctor 
Thompson, in behalf of the town committee, addressed 
General Lafayette and welcomed him to the town. The 
General afterwards visited the Navy Yard. This was a 
special visit to Charlestown, and it must have been on 
this occasion, I think, that he was entertained by Colonel 
Jaques. It was while he was on Bunker Hill at this 
time that General Lafayette was informed by Governor 
Brooks that an association had been formed for the 
erection of a monument, whereupon he requested that he 
might be considered a subscriber and be present at the 
laying of the corner-stone. 

July 21, 1888. 



64 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



IX 
Gallant Huntsmen 

Reynard's Pursuers and where they went — Mrs. Hall's Straw- 
berries. 

THE Hunters' Club, about which something was 
said in the previous chapter, assembled once a 
year and chose a president, after which, with 
invited guests, they sat down to a venison supper, and 
nobody ever doubted their having a good time. Some of 
the members of the club were Colonel Samuel Jaques, 
Isaac Mead, Henry Van Voorhis, Colonel Isaac Smith, 
John Tapley, Robert Lovering, Isaac Larkin, Samuel 
Jackson, Arnold Cook, of Charlestown, and Messrs. 
Gibson, Thatcher, Bowditch, Washington Munroe, Peter 
Brigham, of Boston, and Moses Whitney, of Waltham.|| 
To confirm my own recollection of what I had seen and 
heard, and of what I had been told, I asked my friend 
and old schoolmate, George A. Tapley, of Chelsea, to 
tell me about the fox-hunts in times past. Mr. Tapley, 
whose skill as a farmer and a grower of fruit, especially 
fine pears, is too well known to need more than the sim- 
ple mention of his name, has also, from boyhood, been a 
sportsman in the best sense of that word, " one skilled 
in the sports of the field." The habits of birds, and 
where they are to be found ; of wild animals in this 
region, and of fishes, too, are well known to Mr. Tapley, 
and the manner of capturing them he has learned by 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 6s 

large experience. He is exceedingly interesting in con- 
versation on subjects of the kind, and is at the top of 
the list, I think, of Charlestown boys who have developed 
a taste for intelligent sportsmanship. While a boy and 
in early manhood, living in Charlestown where he was 
born, he knew about the hunters and frequently accom- 
panied them when in pursuit of a fox. I give you the 
substance of what he sends me by way of description 
of these exciting occasions : 

About the middle of October, when a frost is 
expected, the hunters and the hounds are ready and 
anxious for a hunt. Some one has been informed where 
a fox has been seen. The party is made up the night 
before the start, each member of it being informed what 
ground is to be hunted over. The start is to be at day- 
light. The hounds are not fed in the morning, and they 
seem to know all about what is going on. Restless and 
anxious to be off, it is almost impossible to handle them. 
The whole kennel is taken, from ten to twenty, and at 
one time I knew of thirty dogs taken for one day's hunt. 
At somebody's home an early breakfast has been pre- 
pared and hastily eaten, when off they start, hunters and 
hounds, full of glee and music. Some of the party are 
on horseback and some in carriages. 

They are soon on the line they are to take. The 
hounds have thus far been tied together in pairs, but 
they are now let loose, and they keep up a continuous 
yelping. Think of the noise of thirty dogs, hungry, 
excited, wild with a desire to commence the chase. If 
the ground determined upon is Medford, the course is 
over the turnpike and the hills of that town, and, when 
the fox is started up, off he goes towards Woburn. If 
an old fox, he gives the hounds a long run. Oftentimes 
the dogs would be let into the fields soon after leaving 
Charlestown Neck, and a fox would be started before 



66 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

reaching the old powder-house. Then the chase would 
be over Walnut Hill (now College Hill), on to Medford 
and Woburn ; and the hunters would bring up at the old 
Black Horse Tavern, that being always their stopping- 
place on this ground. 

From there they went on to Horn Pond Mountain, 
around which the fox would take about three turns. 
Foxes always have runways which the hunters know, and 
they forelay their runways and often kill the fox, or force 
him to take the ground or a ledge of rocks. If in the 
rocks, the fox is lost for this day. If it should be a good 
day for the scent, — that is, a moist air, — the fox is hard 
pressed if he takes to the ground. If not hard pressed 
he will trot back near to the spot where he first started. 
If the fox is killed, the horn is sounded. The hunters 
all know the sound, and soon get together to have a jolly 
time over the captured brush (fox-tail). The hounds are 
then collected together and taken home, while the hunters 
repair to an appointed place to enjoy a good supper ; and, 
after the excitement and fatigue of the day, a sound sleep 
is almost sure to follow. 

Up to 1830 the hounds were kept by Colonel Jaques, 
in Charlestown, at his place on Washington and Rich- 
mond streets. Later they were kept by him at Ten 
Hills Farm ; still later by John Tapley, at his residence. 
Spring Hill, Charlestown, now Somerville. 

Mr. Tapley says he once saw two foxes, one of which 
he shot, in the rear of the Hall House — the old wooden 
house near the ledge, on the road leading from Broadway, 
Somerville, to the Elm Street station of the Lowell rail- 
road in West Somerville. This old house, never painted, 
now stands where it was built nearly a century ago, and 
must have attracted the attention of almost everybody 
who had any occasion to pass by it. 

The mention of it calls up pleasant recollections to 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 67 

many Charlestown people ; for it used to be a place of 
resort for lovers of good strawberries. To hire a horse 
and carryall, or an old-fashioned two-wheeled chaise, for 
an afternoon drive over the turnpike to Medford, and 
round through West Cambridge ; or directly to Harvard 
College, through West Cambridge, to Charlestown, stop- 
ping on the return at Mrs. Hall's, was one of the things 
to do in early summer. " Hitch your horses and come 
in while I am having the berries picked " was the cordial 
greeting ; and the delay was never long, for she was pre- 
pared for the business. A stroll on the ledge, and a 
short sniff among the wild roses and juniper-trees, would 
take up just about the time of preparation. And when 
the table was set — O fragrant memory ! you can still 
bring before us such strawberries and cream as made it 
attractive ; but the actual provision for such a delicious 
repast can never again be made. 

July 28, 1888. 



68 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



X 

Some Noted Men 

James Frothingham — Josiah Barker — The Goodwins — Ship- 
Building. 

LYNDE'S POINT was cut up into lots, and out of 
it were made many new estates. Its name was soon 
forgotten, and Prison Point, Austin Street, Wash- 
ington Street, Richmond Street, and Union Street took 
its place. Later, another street in the rear of Washing- 
ton Street was laid out, and some thoughtful citizen, 
remembering, perhaps, the high standing of the Lynde 
family, their enterprise and thrift, and former large own- 
ership in the territory of the old town, proposed to call 
it Lynde Street ; or perhaps it was only remembered as 
a part of Lynde's Point, and so appropriately named. 
But whatever may have been the reason in this particular 
instance, the name of Lynde is worthy of remembrance 
in the history of Charlestown. Captain McNeil purchased 
Lynde's Point of the widow of Joseph Lynde, whose 
maiden name was Mary Lemmon. She was the daughter 
of Joseph Lemmon, a merchant of standing in the town 
and at one time its treasurer. 

The earliest sales from the McNeil estate seem to have 
been made on Bow Street, and one of these was to James 
Frothingham, in 1798. The same estate is now owned 
and occupied by J. H. Willard as a store and residence. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 69 

He purchased it of the estate of Abijah Monroe, who 
will be remembered as a gunsmith on Main Street, near 
Union, and as at one time somewhat prominent in polit- 
ical and town affairs. Mr. Frothingham lived here until 
his death, April 16, 1848. He was the father of James 
Frothingham, the eminent portrait-painter, who was born 
in Charlestown and resided here all the early part of his 
life. He afterwards removed to Brooklyn, New York, 
and died there, January 16, 1864. Many of his portraits 
of old Charlestown residents can still be seen in the 
homes of their descendants, and they are evidences of 
the real merit of the artist. In the residence of the 
writer are now hanging portraits of his father and mother, 
painted by Frothingham. His portrait of Samuel Dexter 
hangs in Memorial Hall, Harvard College. His reputa- 
tion was well earned. He painted a picture of Washing- 
ton for the city of Brooklyn, and another for his native 
town, the former of which hangs in the City Hall, Brook- 
lyn, and the other in our public library. He was a pupil 
of Gilbert Stuart and copied his pictures. Dunlap's 
"History of Arts of Design," Volume H., page 211, 
says : " Stuart pronounced Frothingham his most suc- 
cessful imitator." He was a man full of humor, and 
some of his amusing jokes may be referred to in another 
connection. One of his sisters was the wife of our 
very highly respected fellow-citizen, Matthew Rice ; and 
another, of the late George Johnson, a business man and 
town officer of high standing. Near this residence of 
James Frothingham, senior, were the old hay-scales, and, 
succeeding Deacon Tufts, Mr. Frothingham held for 
many years the office of public weigher. This was 
before the inventon of "Fairbanks' platform-balance," 



yo OLD CHARLESTOWN 

and the wagons with the hay were Ufted with chains 
and balanced with old-fashioned weights. 

In November, 1800, Captain McNeil sold, to the com- 
missioners appointed by the Legislature to select a site 
for a State Prison, the lot on which the prison now 
stands. It contained a little more than four and a half 
acres. " It was selected for its healthfulness and the 
superior facilities it afforded for the transportation of 
stone for convict labor. Only one bridge barred the way 
to the ocean, as Prison Point Bridge was not built until 
1809, and all carriage communication with Cambridge 
was by the way of Charlestown Neck." The prison was 
first occupied in 1805. In December of that year thirty- 
two convicts were received from Castle Island, Fort 
Independence, where State prisoners had been confined 
after 1785. 

In 1804, a lot seventy-five feet on Washington Street 
and running down three hundred and twenty-five feet to 
low-water mark was sold to Josiah Barker for a ship-yard, 
and the same year another lot between the ship-yard and 
the prison was sold to J. Morrill, Samuel Jaques, Jr., and 
Matthew Skilton, on which was built a factory for the 
manufacture of spirits of turpentine and other naval 
stores. The Barker lot was enlarged in 18 10 by the 
purchase of fifty-five feet more on Washington Street, 
running down, as with the first lot, to low-water mark, 
making in all one hundred and thirty by three hundred 
and twenty-five in the ship-yard; and here, until 1835, 
when the property was sold to the Charlestown Land 
and Wharf Company, a large number of vessels were 
built by Josiah Barker and, afterwards, by Captain John 
M. Robertson. Henry H. Edes, in his memoir of Josiah 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 71 

Barker, gives a list of thirty-eight vessels built by him in 
Charlestown. How many of these were built in this 
yard I do not know, but he refers to some especially, and 
I quote his remark : " Here he built, among others, the 
Pandora in 1806, the Fawn in 181 1, and the Union and 
the Aurora in J815." The business at the turpentine- 
factory was also continued until the time of change made 
by the Land and Wharf Company. 

Josiah Barker was the naval constructor stationed at 
the Navy Yard in Charlestown for thirty-four years, and 
his skill was shown in the models of many of the best 
ships ever built by the United States government. He 
came to Charlestown in 1 799, from Pembroke. He died 
here, September 23, 1847, ^^ the age of nearly eighty- 
four years. His residence was in the large house on 
Wapping Street, near the Navy Yard gate. It is pleasant 
to refer to a record such as he made for himself, and to 
claim him as one of the respected and distinguished 
citizens of the good old town. Captain Robertson, who 
resided at 22 Washington Street, won a good reputation 
as a shipbuilder, and helped to make Charlestown famous 
for the excellence of the vessels constructed within its 
borders. 

Our Charlestown Artillery was formed as long ago as 
1786. It has had its ups and downs like most of the 
old military organizations. Somewhere about 1832, — 
the exact date I cannot refer to readily, — it had run 
down to such a point that disbandment was imminent. 
Then the old soldiers of the town came forward, placed 
their names upon the roll, and did active duty for several 
years. They elected Mr. Robertson captain, and he had 
a command of which he had a right to be proud. The 



72 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

two fine brass field-pieces in possession of the company 
were in this way retained in the town, and many patriotic 
salutes were given in their use. 

With the building up of the streets referred to, 
Deacon David Goodwin had more to do, perhaps, than 
any other person. He built and lived in the square 
house on the corner of Washington and Union streets — 
the house that stands back from the streets on a high 
bank, with an open fence on the line of the sidewalk at 
the foot of the bank. Here he died, January 25, 1825, 
aged eighty years. He also built and owned the large 
house on the opposite corner of the same streets, which 
is now occupied by the family of the late James Adams. 
This house was the residence of Thomas Jenner Good- 
win, son of the deacon, and was purchased by him after 
the death of his father. On this estate there was a 
well-kept garden, and at one time there could be seen a 
bed of low phlox, arranged so as to form the name of 
Washington. The whole arrangement of flowers in 
this garden was ingenious and ornamental, and such as 
to attract the attention of passers-by. Deacon David 
Goodwin was an enterprising man, the builder of many 
houses in Charlestown, and the owner, at the time of his 
death, of several estates on Washington and Main streets. 
He held important town offices, was in the Massachusetts 
Legislature in 1804, '10, '13, and was for a long time 
one of the trustees of the schools. He was a dignified, 
precise man, who expected to be looked up to, especially 
by the children and youth of the town. He was the 
grandfather of Rev. George Goodwin, the Catholic priest, 
who had charge of Saint Mary's Church for several years. 
Thomas J. Goodwin was a dry-goods dealer in the town, 



i 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 73 

doing a large retail and jobbing business in the store, 
1 1 Main Street. He was a leading man in town affairs, 
and often moderator of the town meetings. He was 
in the Legislature, — in the House of Representatives, 
i824-'25, 1827-28; in the Senate, 1829-30. He 
was a portly gentleman, particular in his dress, and 
quite noticeable as he passed through the streets and 
mingled with his fellow-citizens ; a man of ability 
and successful in his business. He removed from 
here to New York city, and was a wholesale dry-goods 
dealer there. He was one of the original members of 
the First Universalist Society and took an active part in 
its affairs. The clock for many years in front of the 
singers' seats in the gallery bore his name as donor. He 
was afterwards a member of the Unitarian Society. 
John P. Flagg was a clerk with him and afterwards a 
partner. For some years after Mr. Goodwin left town 
the business was continued by John P. Flagg & Co. 

August i i, 1888. 



74 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XI 

The Old Ship Union — Washington 

Street 

Captain George Barker — Reuben Hunt — Professor George F. 
Barker — Samuel Devens. 



THE ship Union, as before mentioned, was built 
by Captain Josiah Barker at the ship-yard on 
Washington Street, in 1815. She was a vessel of 
six hundred and twenty tons, and was built for William 
Gray to be used as a privateer ; but, peace being declared 
about the time she was finished, she was taken to Gray's 
Wharf, which was below Charles River Bridge, where 
storehouse No. 4 of the Hoosac Dock and Elevator Co. 
now stands, and was altered into a merchantman. An 
upper deck was added to her, and she was otherwise 
fitted for the East India trade. She is said to have been 
an admirably constructed ship and proved to be a model 
for one of the best sloops-of-war ever in the Navy. In 
1842 or 1843 ^3-cb of the naval constructors stationed 
at the navy-yards in the country had orders to prepare, 
according to his own ideas, models and drawings for a 
first class sloop-of-war. Acting under this authority. 
Captain Barker, copying the lines of the old ship Union, 
had an enlarged model made for the Portsmouth, 
which ship was afterwards laid down and built from the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 75 

model, at Portsmouth. She proved to be one of the best 
of the new sloops. 

Thomas J. Goodwin, whose residence was described 
in the previous chapter, was one of the original board of 
directors of the Bunker Hill Bank. He occupied the 
position for nine years, from July, 1825, to October, 
1834. He was also one of the first board of trustees 
of the Warren Institution for Savings, 

On the south side of Washington Street, between the 
continuation of Union and Bow streets, are several 
houses built about the same time as the Goodwin houses. 
They were the homesteads of Samuel Devens, a mer- 
chant having his office, I think, on Central Wharf, 
Boston ; Benjamin Edmands, painter, whose shop was on 
the Square, in the building recently built by Mr. Swal- 
low and occupied by Charles W. Sawyer, the telegraph- 
office, and the quarters of the 999th Artillery ; Francis 
Adams, who occupied a wharf leading from Water Street, 
and who was the owner of several coasting-vessels ; 
James Warren, boot and shoe manufacturer in a shop on 
the Square near Mr. Edmands ; and William Wiley, on 
the corner of Bow Street. All of these places except 
the Wiley estate were always made attractive by care- 
fully kept gardens, in which, especially in that of Mr. 
Edmands, were many beautiful trees. 

The owners of these places were men of standing and 
property. Francis Adams, after a long residence here, 
removed to Maine ; the others remained and died here. 
A little later, other houses were built on that side of the 
street, the occupants of which were John Gregory, mason, 
whose faithful work can be shown in a number of build- 
ings now standing; Joshua Burr, wharf and bridge 



76 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

builder, whose rafts of piles, spars, and timber moored 
on the river made very convenient assembling places for 
the boys while taking their baths in the summer ; Captain 
David Low, who removed here from Cordis Street ; 
Captain Pollard ; Captain George Barker, the popular 
ship-maker of his time and father of Dr. George F. 
Barker, professor of physics in the University of Penn- 
sylvania, who was born in Charlestown and spent his 
boyhood and youth there ; Joseph Souther, and Reuben 
Hunt. 

Reuben Hunt came to Charlestown from Concord, 
Massachusetts, where he was born, January 1 1, 1783, 
dying here, May 1 1, 1866. He was one of a number of 
men who came to Charlestown and established them- 
selves successfully in the business of morocco-dressing, 
which was an important industry in the old town. Mr. 
Hunt was a man who never took steps backward ; and 
he went on steadily until his accumulation was such as 
to make it perfectly easy for him to do much or little, as 
he pleased. He always, until his death, I think, kept 
his office in town, but went daily to Boston, and was 
thoroughly informed in regard to the value of securities. 
He left a large estate. He was one of the original 
members of the Harvard Unitarian Society, and constant 
in his attendance at church. He was the willing con- 
tributor towards all their good work, and in his will he 
remembered the poor of the church with a bequest of 
$2000. Nor did he forget the poor of his adopted home, 
or of the home of his childhood. To the first he devised 
$3000, and to the last ;^iooo. The bulk of his estate 
was given to his daughter, his only surviving child, who, 
in her own quiet way, has, I doubt not, been carrying 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 77 

out plans suggested by the known views and wishes of 
her father and her own ideas of what was due to his 
memory. Mr. Hunt was a director in the Bunker Hill 
Bank, elected October 6, 1834, taking the place of 
Thomas J. Goodwin, and remaining until October 2, 
1848. He was one of the original board of trustees in 
the Warren Institution for Savings, being elected in 
1829, and holding the office until 1835, when he was 
elected one of the vice-presidents, holding that office 
until 1839. His was a real Ufe. He was self-reliant 
and self-possessed ; nothing like sham ever influenced 
his action. He declined public office, but he lived in the 
town many years and the example of his life and charac- 
ter must have been of great service in its affairs and 
among its people. 

Joseph Souther was made a director in the Bunker 
Hill Bank, October 2, 1848, taking the place of Reuben 
Hunt, who had resigned; and October 4, 1858, after 
ten years' service, he resigned, and his son, Joseph 
Souther, Jr., was elected in his place. 

August i8, 1888. 



78 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XII 

Washington Street and Some of Its 

Residents 

James Adams — William M. Byrnes — George Hyde — William 
Arnold — The Flints. 



A 



T the foot of Washington Street, near the State 
Prison, was a soap-factory where James Gould 
carried on an extensive business. He was suc- 
ceeded by Tebbetts & Hill, who continued the business 
for many years afterwards. Mr. Gould's residence for a 
portion of the time was on the east side of Washington 
Street, in the house with brick ends and a wood front, 
standing on a terrace, with an area all around it used for 
a garden. The house was built by David Fosdick, who 
occupied it for some years. He was a native of the 
town, and a prominent man in it. His store for retailing 
and jobbing dry-goods was on Main Street, in the build- 
ing making the north corner of Henley Street. David S. 
Messinger, of Worcester, who lived in Charlestown for 
some years and married here, was at one time his part- 
ner, the firm being David Fosdick & Co. Mr. Fosdick 
was one of the original board of trustees of the Warren 
Institution for Savings, and one of its vice-presidents. 
He was a leading man in the First Baptist Church. He 
removed from here to Groton. That pleasant old citizen. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 79 

Patrick Denvir, connected with the Catholic Church here 
as sexton, and so forth, for so many years, whose walks 
up and down Main Street we have but recently missed, 
and whose residence in Charlestown covered a period of 
more than sixty years, purchased this estate of Mr. 
Gould in 1850 and lived there until his decease, April 28, 
1887. 

Just below this estate is a brick house which was built 
by Captain John M. Robertson, who resided there for 
several years and then sold it to William M, Byrnes, who 
made it his residence. Mr. Byrnes will be remembered 
for his love for music, his perseverence in its study, and 
his great desire that everybody should enjoy it. He was 
for a long time connected with the Winthrop Church 
and was organist for its fine choir. He had a musical 
family; and with more than common skill the works of 
the best musical composers could be rendered both 
by voice and instrument at their ordinary gatherings. 
Former residents of Charlestown were largely indebted 
to Mr. Byrnes for many fine musical entertainments 
given in the old Town Hall. Concerts by the famous 
" Germania Musical Association," the leading musical 
attraction in Boston from 1849 to about 1854, which 
were given here several times, and those of the " Men- 
delssohn Quintette Club," for several seasons afterwards, 
were gotten up by the interest and energy of Mr. Byrnes, 
who aimed to develop a taste for classical music and to 
keep Charlestown up to the times in musical matters. 
Mr. Byrnes was for many years secretary of the Franklin 
Insurance Company, having its office in State Street, 
Boston, and he was afterwards its president. 

The brick house nearest to Union Street, on the same 



8o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

i{ 

side of Washington Street, was built and occupied for 
many years by the late S. Stoddard Blanchard, a native : 
of the town who afterwards built the house on Monument 
Square in which he lived until he died, August i8, 1886. 
He commenced his business life as a clerk in the 
Hamilton Bank, Boston, and worked himself up to the 
presidency, an office he resigned a little while before 
his death. 

After the removal of T. J. Goodwin to New York, his 
estate was purchased by James Adams, who resided there 
until his death, November 13, 1880. His family still 
occupy the house. Mr. Adams, in early life, was in the 
hardware trade, and had a store first with his brother 
John in the Square, where the Enterprise office is now 
located, and afterwards on the corner of Main and 
Henley streets, opposite the building of the Warren 
Institution for Savings, of which institution he was in 
later life for twenty-five years the president. He was 
also engaged in the manufacture of kerosene and other j 
oils at his factory on Mystic River, adjoining Chelsea ! 
Bridge. In 1854 he was Mayor of the city ; and he was j 
an active member of the school committee for many 
years. He was deacon of the Winthrop Church, and one 
of its leading members from the time of its organization ; 
and one of the board of directors of the Bunker Hill 
Bank. 

The houses I have mentioned (with the exception of 
the Goodwin estate), and all of those between that and 
Bow Street (except the old McNeil house), are compar- 
atively modern, although it is a good many years since 
they were erected. The one on the corner of Bow 
Street was built by Isaac Kendall, and was first occupied. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 8i 

I think, by Rev. Dr. Fay of the First Church, whose 
moral strength was not sufficient for the maintenance of 
a high position which he at one time held. It was after- 
wards purchased by George Hyde, who lived there many 
years until his removal to his present residence on High 
Street. The little triangular plot of land between Bow 
Street and the house was always, in the growing season, 
smiling with flowers, telling continually of the taste and 
interest of their cultivator, and hinting of comfort and 
refinement within doors. Mr. Hyde commenced his 
business career in the store of Samuel Abbott & Co., 
Main Street, Charlestown. From there he went into the 
employ of Dana Evans & Co., wholesale grocers, Boston, 
and soon became a partner. The firm of Hyde & 
Southworth, of which he is now the head, is the succes- 
sion and continuation of the old concern. Mr. Hyde is 
one of the vice-presidents of the Warren Institution for 
Savings, and was a trustee of the Public Library until 
the annexation to Boston. He has always been devoted 
to the interests of the Winthrop Church. One of his 
daughters is the wife of Rev. Dr. Abbott E. Kittredge, 
a former pastor, later the pastor of a Congregational 
Church in Chicago, and now of the Madison Avenue 
Reformed Church of New York. Another daughter is 
the wife of James W. Shapleigh, of Boston. 

A little distance from Mr. Hyde's, on Arrow Street, 
near its junction with Bow, was the residence of Simeon 
Flint, and here some of the family have lived from the 
time of its erection, to the present. Mr. Flint was an 
intelligent, genial man, and a call at his merchant-tailor's 
shop on Main Street always gave pleasure to his 
numerous friends. His home was also a blessing to its 



82 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

occupants, and a place of interest and enjoyment to 
friends. He had five children, George Frederic, who 
died early ; William, the Episcopal minister, settled for 
some years over Saint John's Church in Charlestown ; 
Eliza and May, who were successful teachers in the 
Abbott School, New York ; and Sarah, the authoress of ' 
several books. Mr. Flint was a deacon of the Winthrop 
Church. He died October 24, 1857. An obituary by 
his friend Doctor Thompson, in The Bunker Hill Aurora^ 
October, 1857, closes with the quotation: "Let us die 
the death of the righteous, and let our last end be like 
his." 

Amos T. Frothingham, the cashier of the Tremont 
Bank, now a resident of Cambridge, was for many years 
the next-door neighbor of Mr. Hyde. Then followed 
the block of three brick houses built by John Wesson, 
John Gary, and Robert Todd, and used for residences 
by them as long as they lived. Wesson & Gary were 
originally stone-masons, but they were better known as 
grain-dealers on Warren Avenue. The wharf and store 
now occupied by Nathan Tufts & Sons was their place 
of business for several decades at least, and the Tuftses 
may be considered a succession of the old firm. Mr. 
Todd was formerly a partner in the firm of Benjamin 
Thompson & Co., dealers in lumber and wood and coal, 
first at Thompson's Wharf, opposite Wesson & Gary, and 
afterwards, when that wharf was sold to the Fitchburg 
Railroad, on a wharf which they purchased on the other 
avenue, the same now occupied by the Tudor Co. and 
A. Gage & Co. These three friends and neighbors were 
enterprising and successful business men, widely known 
and respected, and at various times valuable city officials. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 83 

Right along here lived William Arnold, Jr., mentioned 
in a former article. His father, Deacon William Arnold, 
the proprietor of the old shoe-store on Main Street, 
about where Jasper Stone's jewelry-store now is, was one 
of the old residents on Washington Street, as were also 
Joseph Tufts, an able lawyer and trusted counselor, and 
Otis Vinal. 

August 25, 1888. 



84 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



I 



XIII 

Washington Street 

Its Pleasant Neighborhood. 

PAYMASTER GEORGE F. CUTTER, of the 
United States Navy Department, who for a long 
time was at the head of the Bureau of Provisions 
and Clothing, married the daughter of Charles Forster, 
and at one time occupied one of the houses near those 
mentioned in the preceding chapter. He removed 
from Washington Street to Chestnut Street, where 
he lived some years in a house of which, I think, he 
was the owner. Captain J. B. Montgomery, of the 
Navy, was also for some time a resident on Washington 
Street. 

The Jaques place, altered into a double house, was 
occupied on one side by tenants, among whom I now 
think of Caleb Rand and Christopher C. Deane. The 
other half was for a long time the boarding-house of 
Miss Brown, and many of the young people of the town 
found a home there at once inviting and comfortable. 
Benjamin Brown, Jr., formerly occupying an important 
position in the Custom House, and who was afterwards 
a prominent stock-broker on State Street, Boston, 
boarded here with his sister, as did also two other 
brothers, Edward and Caleb Strong. The Browns were 
natives of Charlestown and lived with their father, Ben- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 85 

jamin Brown, at the Neck, before they came to Wash- 
ington Street. 

The residences of Heman S. Doane and John Fosdick 
were in the next block of two wooden houses. Mr. 
Doane was a deacon of the Winthrop Church. He was 
a member of the firm of John Doane, Jr., & Co., brush- 
manufacturers, at one time connected with Joseph 
Thompson in a factory in the rear of the store of A. N. 
Swallow & Co., on the Square, and afterwards con- 
tractors for a considerable force at the State Prison, 
employed by them at brush-making. 

Mr. Fosdick, a native of the town, was a wholesale 
dry-goods dealer in Boston. He was a member of the 
Harvard Unitarian Church and a constant attendant at 
its Sunday services. He was for a long time one of the 
vice-presidents and a member of the board of investment 
of the Warren Institution for Savings. His sense of the 
ludicrous was uncommonly keen, and some of his jokes 
were very telling. He can hardly be called to mind 
without the recollection of his jocoseness and of the 
merry twinkle of his eye that presaged the coming 
joke. 

On the opposite side of the street is a block formerly 
occupied by Amos and William Tufts. The lot of land 
on which they built these two houses was purchased of 
Benjamin Edmands, and to make room for them the fine 
trees in his garden were cut down. A regretful feeling, 
when the axe was laid at their roots, pervaded the neigh- 
borhood, and the pleasure afforded by the anticipation of 
the erection of two fine houses, and the coming of con- 
genial occupants for them, was barely sufficient to com- 
pensate for the loss of the trees. But the Tuftses were 



86 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

pleasant people and good neighbors, and the trees 
remained, in memory, to be talked about as "things i 
of beauty, joys forever." 

Amos Tufts was originally a blacksmith with his father. 
Deacon Amos Tufts, in their shop on Main Street, where 
Dr. John S. Whiting now lives. Amos and Samuel F. i 
Tufts carried on the business together after the deacon 
retired. Mr. Tufts was later superintendent of one of 1 
the departments of the Lowell Railroad. He was an 
efficient member of the City Government as councilman 
and alderman for several years. William Tufts was at 
one time, I think, in the dry-goods business in town, and 
afterwards, until his death, secretary of that successful 
old institution, the Massachusetts Mutual Insurance I 
Company. He was always an agreeable and highly 
respected gentleman. 

The Charlestown Wharf Company was incorporated j 
March 31, 1836. They purchased nearly all the prop- 
erty along the shore of the river from the wharf of the 
State Prison to Warren Bridge. A sea-wall, built by ' 
them, extended along this whole line. Their purchase / 
included the old ship-yard, and all the upland bordering j 
on that side of Washington Street from Austin to Union 
streets. This land was laid out and sold for house-lots. ( 
The history of this company, and of the Charlestown 1 
Branch Railroad Company, must be given at some future 
time ; it is referred to now only as it was connected with 
the estates on Washington Street. The lot nearest 
Union Street was purchased by Rev. Henry Jackson, 
and the wooden house now standing there was erected 
by him for a residence. He was pastor of the First 
Baptist Church, but afterwards removed to Hartford, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 87 

Connecticut. He was a fine-looking man, a successful 
preacher and highly esteemed pastor, a genial man much 
loved by his own people and pleasant in his intercourse 
with all denominations. On his removal to Hartford he 
sold his house on Washington Street to Gilbert Tufts, 
who removed here from Cordis Street and died July 7, 
1850. 

Below this estate, on other lots sold by the Wharf 
Company, is a block of twelve brick houses, compact, 
convenient, pleasant dwelling-places. The occupants of 
these houses were such men and families as give a good 
name to towns and cities, and make their histories inter- 
esting and valuable ; for excellence of character, ability, 
and means are the essentials of true prosperity. Let us 
make a list of those who had homes here, say in 1848, 
and for a good while after that, and see if we are correct 
in our estimate of their value as citizens of the town. 
Here then it is : Isaac Sweetser, Jonathan V. Fletcher, 
George S. Adams, Dexter Bowman, Zadoc Bowman, 
George W. Little, Edwin F. Adams, Colonel Seth J. 
Thomas, Richard Baker, Jr., Samuel Atherton, Deacon 
James Fosdick, George H. Morse. Look back upon 
what I have written concerning Washington Street and 
other residents on it, and, taking it in connection with 
this list, have I not given the history of a locality and 
neighborhood that any old resident of Charlestown has 
a right to be proud of ? 

September i, 1888. 



88 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XIV 
Along Bow Street 

Residences of Richard Devens and John Harris — Henry Jaques 
and his Family. 

BOW STREET has been the residence of many- 
persons of mark who reflected honor upon Charles- 
town ; who were constantly pursuing a course of life 
that influenced favorably its institutions and its people, 
and who left good names when they passed away from 
life, to be referred to with pride and pleasant remem- 
brance. Let us try to make special allusion to some of 
them now, and catch a little more of the fragrance that 
is always thrown off from the memory of good people. 

But a step from Washington Street, on the right hand 
side of Bow Street as you go towards the Square, was 
a house (still standing) like many others we have 
described, with its end on the street, the front looking 
into a garden inclosed by a fence, the gateway of which 
opened upon a pathway leading to the front door. Con- 
trasted with the elegant residences of the present day, 
these old estates seem to be of little consequence ; but 
there was an air of quiet comfort about them, an evi- 
dence of that kind of contentment which is befitting and 
essential to a good home, that is not so often observed 
in the pretentious mansions of the prosperous men of 
this age. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 89 

In the house referred to Hved Henry Jaqiies, the 
brother of Colonel Samuel Jaques. He was the first 
cashier of the Bunker Hill Bank, holding the place for 
three years. He then resigned to take the presidency 
of the Tremont Bank, in Boston. Here he remained 
for three years more, when he left to become an official 
of the Suffolk Bank, a larger institution occupying an 
important position in the system of banking then exist- 
ing in Massachusetts. 

Henry Jaques was an intelligent and industrious man. 
A good man himself, he had great respect for moral 
worth and ability, and but little patience with pretension. 
Fair in his judgment, he was independent and fearless in 
the expression of his opinion. Not easily deceived, he 
filled his own place worthily, and required honesty and 
faithful attention to their work from all those who were 
about him. He was one of the original members of the 
Charlestown Wharf Company and of the Charlestown 
Branch Railroad Company, and his name stands first on 
the list of incorporators of both these companies. He 
was looked up to as an authority in financial matters in 
Charlestown, and was interested in the affairs of the 
town, especially that they should be honestly and worthily 
conducted. He was the father of Henry L. Jaques, 
whose early life was spent in Charlestown and who was 
for some time treasurer of the Warren Institution for 
Savings. Afterwards he removed to New York and was 
cashier of one of the leading banks there. Accumulat- 
ing a fortune, he retired from business and traveled a 
good deal abroad. A short time ago the bank with 
which he was connected, in New York, was in trouble 
through the irregularities of its officials, and Mr. Jaques 



90 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

was urged to take the head of the institution on its 
reorganization, but he decHned the honor. Another son 
of Henry, Francis Jaques, who died a few years ago, 
was the president of the Webster National Bank, in 
Boston. The daughter is the wife of Charles Merriam, 
of Boston, now prominent as an official and manager of 
some of the western railroads. He was for some years 
a resident of Charlestown, living in Monument Square. 

The two brick houses on the corner of Mason and 
Bow streets were formerly the residences of John Harris 
and Richard Devens. At that time they were among 
the most attractive places in the town. The houses 
were always in order, and, looked at even from the 
outside, bore the appearance of what they really were, 
tasteful and beautiful homes. In their rear were large 
gardens running down to the river, with handsomely con- 
structed arbors, covered with grapevines, sheltering the 
paths and ornamenting the grounds. The view of the 
river, and, across it, of the other shore, was a pleasant 
one. Flowers and fruits were successfully grown in the 
gardens, under the direction and personal care of the 
owners, who took delight in watching their development 
from the opening bud in spring to the ripening and fall 
of the leaf in autumn. How changed it all is now ! 
But let not this passing thought interfere with the pleas- 
ure of the retrospect. At the lower end of the gardens 
were small buildings, fitted up with convenient bathing- 
arrangements, a luxury not common for private residences 
at the time of which we are writing. But these were 
convenient and complete dwelling-places. There are 
memories here, too, especially with the residence of the 
Devens family, of social enjoyment and generous enter- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 91 

tainment, which ought not to be forgotten in any history 
of the old town ; for it had then a goodly reputation as 
a place of social importance and cordial hospitality, and 
among those who aided largely in giving it a good name 
were the occupants of the pleasant abode that we have 
but poorly described. 

We shall have more to say about this, and of Richard 
Devens, hereafter. 

September 8, 1888. 



92 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XV 
Bow Street 

George W. Tyler's Library and its Distinguished Visitors — 
George Davidson and his Voyage around the World in the 
Ship Columbia when the river Columbia was discovered — 
John J. Stowell. 

NOT far from the Devens estate on Bow Street, in a 
house standing at the head of what used to be 
known as Tyler's Wharf, was the residence of 
Jonas Tyler, who for many years kept a wholesale and 
retail West India goods store on the Square, near the 
corner of Chamber Street, in one of the buildings 
destroyed in the great fire of 1835, and afterwards in the 
Cordis building on Main Street, the same now occupied 
by S. P. Hill & Co. Mr. Tyler was a peculiar man but 
an excellent citizen, methodical and successful in his 
business and upright in all his dealings. At one time he 
had a bathing-establishment on his wharf, where bothi 
ladies and gentlemen could be provided with convenient 
and well-protected bath-houses. This bathing-place was 
conducted very much upon the plan of the former well- 
known and popular *' Braman's Baths " in Boston. At 
that time it was not common for residents in the city 
and large towns to leave their homes for the summer, 
and the refreshment of salt-water bathing was for the 
most part found in a swim and shower at establishments] 
like this. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 93 

Mr. Tyler had four sons, two of whom are now Hving 
in Charlestown, Benjamin F. and Captain Jonas K. The 
latter was a lieutenant in the Mexican War, and got his 
title of captain in the War of the Rebellion. Another 
son, John F., was very popular as a boy, and some of us 
remember well the amiable and noble qualities that made 
him so. He was accidentally killed in his youth, by fall- 
ing down a hatchway in a store on Long Wharf, Boston, 
where he was employed as a clerk. 

The oldest son, George W. Tyler, was brought up in 
a counting-room on Commercial Street, Boston, and 
after his majority carried on the lumber-business for a 
while. He was afterwards connected with newspapers, 
in Boston and in the West, as reporter and editor. He 
died some years ago. He had great fondness for books, 
and while he lived at his father's house he collected 
together a library which in extent and value was perhaps 
second to no private collection in town. His room was 
the resort of many young men who afterwards became 
eminent. He was a member of the Boston Mercantile 
Library Association in its palmy days, and delivered a 
lecture before it which was printed at the time and 
elicited very favorable comment. James T. Fields, 
Edwin R Whipple, Daniel L. Haskell, and other prom- 
inent members of the Mercantile, and William D. Kelley 
and George Curry of the Mechanics' Apprentice Asso- 
ciation, were among his visitors. After the fire in 1835, 
his father purchased the Cordis estate, on Main Street, 
opposite Union Street, where the large elm-tree formerly 
stood, and removed his residence and store there, and 
the library was in that building for some years. 
Such men as Professor B. F. Tweed, Colonel Seth J. 



94 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



Thomas, Rev. Edwin H. Chapin, Thomas Starr King, 
and others could often have been found there. Many 
interesting discussions, philosophical, religious, and polit- 
ical, were carried on in these library-rooms. 

William D. Kelley, mentioned above, was at the time 
a silversmith in the shop of the father of his fellow- 
apprentice, George Curry, in Boston. He removed to 
Philadelphia, where he soon became a judge of one of 
the courts, and in a few years went to Congress. He 
still remains there, the oldest member of the National 
House of Representatives, known all over the land, 
especially in this time of tariff discussion and excitement, 
as " Pig-iron Kelley." While he was in Boston he was 
a Democrat and a public speaker. He made many 
speeches in Charlestown, and on one occasion from a plat- 
form on the Training Field he replied to a speech that 
had just before been made to the Whigs by Honorable 
James Wilson (" Long Jim "), of New Hampshire. George 
Curry, who occasionally spoke to the Charlestown Dem- 
ocrats, became Honorable George Curry, governor of the 
territory of Oregon. These were not Charlestown boys, 
but, at the time referred to, theirs were familiar faces 
and voices in Democratic caucuses and public political 
meetings here. About this time the Charlestown 
Democrats had many opportunities to hear George 
Bancroft, the historian, who was then collector of the 
port of Boston and Charlestown. His discourses to 
them in the old Town Hall were on Democracy, which 
he defined to be "Eternal justice ruling through the 
people." Some of our older citizens doubtless remember 
these discourses and the peculiar emphasis and manner 
of the speaker. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 95 

Nearly opposite the head of Tyler's Wharf, on the 
other side of Bow Street, was the residence of George 
Davidson. He was one of the crew of the ship 
Columbia, Captain Robert Gray, when she sailed from 
Boston for a voyage around the world in 1787. Mr. 
Davidson was a painter of considerable genius, with 
talent for drawing and sketching, and he was employed 
as the artist of the expedition. Pictures taken by him 
of places visited, attacks upon the ship at night by the 
Indians, and others, are still to be seen, * On this voyage 
the river Columbia was discovered and named for the 
ship. On his return he made arrangements to enter 
into the fur-trade, and, some years after, another very 
successful voyage to the north-west coast was made in a 
vessel commanded by him. A third voyage was planned 
and carried out so far as the safe arrival of the vessel at 
the coast was concerned, but on the passage home she is 
supposed to have foundered, as nothing was ever heard 
from her. 

Captain Davidson had two children. George was a 
printer and book-publisher in the office now occupied by 
Rand & Stinehart. The second child was a daughter, 
who became the wife of John J. Stowell, who kept a 
jewelry-store for many years, until his death in 1834, in 
the store now occupied by N. Leonard at 97 Main 
Street. This store was a place of great interest one 
morning while it was occupied by Mr. Stowell, it being 
broken into by thieves. The front door and window 



* Some of these pictures are in tlie possession of the Bancroft family, 
one of whom took part in the expedition. The wife of Rev. Dr. Alex- 
ander H. Twombly, of the Winthrop Church, was a Bancroft of this 
family. 



96 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

were found to be fastened with ropes and sticks to 
prevent the speedy entrance of the town watchman, 
while a large quantity of jewelry and goods was being 
carried off from the windows in the back yard. Crime 
of this kind was not so common then, and attracted 
more attention than it does now-a-days. Mr. Stowell 
was a manufacturer of clocks of all sizes, his father 
and grandfather having carried on the same business. 
" Made by Stowell " is an inscription formerly very 
common, and still to be seen on a good many town- 
clocks all about the country. John J. Stowell and Cap- 
tain George Davidson were the father and grandfather of 
our esteemed citizens, John and Francis Stowell. 

George Davidson's wife was Mary Clark, of Boston. 
Her father was one of those who destroyed the tea in 
Boston Harbor. After the death of Captain Davidson 
she was married to Captain Samuel Stoddard. He was 
at the battle of White Plains, at the capture of the 
Hessians, and in the dreadful winter at Valley Forge. 
When peace was declared he resumed his profession as 
shipmaster, making many voyages to Europe and the 
West Indies. On one of these return voyages he was 
wrecked on the Grand Bahamas, living upon the rocks 
for fourteen days, the hardship of which occasioned his 
death. His son Samuel was a printer with George 
Davidson, Jr., and continued the business in the same 
place for a long time after the death of his employer. 

September 15, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 97 




XVI 
The Devens and Harris Families 

Commissary Devens — Jonathan Harris — Charlotte Harris — 
Social Life — General Charles Devens. 

ICHARD DEVENS lived on Bow Street until 
1835, when he removed to the brick house on the 
corner of Chelsea and Prospect streets, where he 
died, October 28, 1847. H^is wife, a remarkably 
energetic and intelligent woman, continued to live there 
until her death, February 9, 1874. His son, Thomas M., 
and others of the family still retain it as their resi- 
dence. 

The home on Bow Street, as we have already 
intimated, was ever a cheerful place ; and how to enter- 
tain elegantly was never a secret to the family. Indeed, 
there was a circle of friends in town at the time who 
understood the meaning of social enjoyment and its 
importance ; and their generous provision for it was 
fully up to the time in which they lived. Visitors to the 
old town, and distinguished people who had any occasion 
to come to it, were received with cordiality, and went 
away with a good impression of its social character. 
The first fair in Charlestown was held in the parlor of 
Mrs. Devens, — gotten up for the benefit of the Sunday- 
school of the Unitarian Society, — and all benevolent 
work in town found encouragement and ready help from 



98 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

the occupants of this house. Three of the daughters 
married naval officers, — Lieutenant Albert Downes, 
a brother of Commodore John Downes ; Lieutenant 
Charles W. Morris, the oldest son of Commodore Charles 
Morris ; and Lieutenant John H. Sherburne. The sons 
were Thomas Miller, of the mercantile firm of Gossler 
& Co., Boston ; Captain Henry, a shipmaster ; Edward 
F., and Richard. 

Mr. Devens was one of the original members of the 
Unitarian Society and Church, and a director for several 
years of the Bunker Hill Bank. He was a merchant 
and ship-owner. Several vessels were built for him and 
his brother Samuel at the ship-yard of Captain Robert- 
son. Among them are remembered the Heraclide^ 
Cabinet, and Commissary. 

Before the War of the Revolution the grandfather of 
Mr. Devens — bearing the same name, Richard — was 
a prominent citizen of the old town. In 1743 he was 
a cooper, ganger, and packer, a man of small means ; 
but he moved upward in the scale of importance until he 
became a widely known and highly prosperous merchant. 
When it was determined that the trouble between the 
colonies and the mother country must be settled by war, 
he was taken into the confidence of the patriots of the 
time, with whom he fully sympathized, and was selected 
as the proper person to hold the office of commissary- 
general in the army. He was a member of the Provin- 
cial Congress and of the Committee of Public Safety ; 
a trusted and efficient helper in the successful struggle 
for a better government and independence. He was 
afterwards a selectman of the town, representative to 
the General Court, and member of the Executive 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 99 

Council. When the Charles River Bridge was built he 
was one of the commissioners having the work in charge. 
He was a very large owner of real-estate in the town and 
in Boston, and he carried on an extensive business at his 
wharf leading out from Water Street, opposite Chamber, 
having very considerable dealings with the West Indies 
and other foreign places. His residence was opposite 
the head of his wharf, on the other side of Water 
Street, — the house standing on a lot very near where 
the brick building stands occupied until lately by Cook, 
Rymes & Co. as a machine-shop. There it stood until 
it was destroyed by the great fire in 1835. It was 
near this spot that Paul Revere was furnished with a 
horse by Deacon Larkin for his famous ride to Lex- 
ington and Concord. In the history of the First 
Church, Mr. Devens is spoken of as the leading man 
of his time, and one of its chief supporters ; and his 
contribution for the gratuitous distribution of tracts, 
it was said, had not been exceeded by that of any 
person in America. His portrait hangs in the reading- 
room of our public library. He died at the age of 
eighty-six years, September 20, 1807. A large part of 
his property was given by bequest to religious institu- 
tions and to the poor ; and he explains this in his will by 
reference to his own poverty in early life and his vow 
not to forget the needy. 

David, the eldest son of Commissary Devens, was a 
merchant. He died in February, 1792, when he was 
forty-five years old. He was the father of Samuel and 
Richard, whose estates on Washington and Bow streets 
we have described, and of David and Charles Devens, 
also prominent citizens of the town. David, to whom a 

LcfC. 



lOO OLD CHARLESTOWN 

part of the wharf property was given by his grandfather, 
and who afterwards acquired all of it, continued its man- 
agement for many years. He was town treasurer for 
almost a quarter of a century, and for thirty years was 
one of the board of directors of the Bunker Hill Bank, 
twenty of which years he was its president. He was 
also one of the original members of the Unitarian 
Society, one of the first vice-presidents of the Warren 
Institution for Savings, and a director in the Charlestown 
Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He died in August, 
1855. In his will were the following bequests: One 
thousand dollars to the town for providing books for the 
poor ; two thousand dollars to the Female Benevolent 
Society, since called the Devens Benevolent Society ; 
one thousand dollars each to the Unitarian, Universalist, 
Baptist, First Parish, and Winthrop churches, the income 
to be expended for the benefit of their poor. The sons 
of the junior David Devens were Rev. Samuel Adams, 
Rev. David Stearns, George A., and my esteemed 
friend, William H . Devens, of Roslindale, Massachusetts. 
The daughters of Samuel Devens were the wives of 
Bradford Lincoln, Jr., William J. Powell, and Dr. John 
A. Briggs. Richard Miller, a son, was the compiler of 
the large volume, published in 1881, entitled, *' Our 
First Century." 

Charles Devens was of the firm of Devens & Thomp- 
son, hardware-dealers ; their places of business being in 
the brick building now numbered 3 on Main Street, near 
the Square, and later in South Market Street, Boston. 
He was at one time town clerk, as was also his brother 
Samuel. His eldest son is General Charles Devens, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN loi 

formerly Attorney General of the United States, now 
an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of 
Massachusetts, and President of the Bunker Hill Mon- 
ument Association. General Devens was born in the 
house on the corner of Union and Lawrence streets, now 
occupied by his relatives, David and Mary Balfour, and 
his boyhood was spent in Charlestown. He was a grad- 
uate of Harvard College (1838). His brother, Arthur 
Lithgow, also born in Charlestown, but lately of 
Worcester, was a graduate of the same college (1840). 
The wife of Rev. Walter Balfour was Mary Devens, 
sister of the General's father. 

Commissary Devens' daughter Mary was the wife of 
Jonathan Harris, merchant, of Boston, who was a large 
owner of real-estate in Charlestown. Harris Wharf, 
afterwards Damon's Wharf, now belonging to the 
Hoosac Tunnel Dock and Elevator Company, was a 
part of this estate. It was held by the family until it 
was purchased by John Wade Damon, then of Havana, 
but later of Charlestown, whose heirs sold it to the 
Hoosac Tunnel Dock and Elevator Company. 

The sons of Mr. Harris — Samuel D., Richard D., 
Henry, Charles, and George — w^ere all prominent men 
in Boston. He had several daughters, the youngest of 
whom. Miss Charlotte, died May 31, 1877. She will be 
remembered for her generous gift of the complete chime 
of bells hanging in the tower of the First Church, and for 
a bequest in her will of $10,000 for the use of the 
Charlestown Public Library, and of the portrait of her 
grandfather that hangs in the reading-room of that 
institution. 



I02 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Another daughter of Commissary Richard Devens 
married Captain Jonathan Chapman, who was also a large 
real-estate owner in the old town. Chapman Street was 
laid out by the family, through the old distillery-lot 
which fronted on Main Street and ran down to the river, 
and about which more may be said at some future 
time. 

In presenting the chime of bells to the church. Miss 
Harris refers to her " ancestors, Harris and Devens, who 
were for a great number of years inhabitants of Charles- 
town and worshiped in the church of the First Parish." 
Let us keep them and her in appreciative and grateful 
remembrance, as we listen to the harmonious sound of 
the chime and enjoy its pleasant influence. The follow- 
ing description of the chime, by Miss Mary Devens 
Balfour, is used here by her kind permission : 

Charlestown is blessed in her bell service, and we 
should be proud to know that this little spot glories in 
the possession of one of the three chimes in the city of 
Boston, and one of the largest in Massachusetts. We 
should be proud of our possession, as well as of the old 
church which owns them. This church is the oldest in 
Boston, having been organized in 1630, and it seems 
only right that it should have been honored with this 
chime. 

The sixteen bells were cast by Henry N. Hooper & 
Co., in 1868, and were put into the belfry at a cost of 
$8000, which Miss Harris paid. The D bell, which is 
the largest, weighing 3267 pounds, was first made. The 
first casting resulted in a perfect bell, which is hung in | 
the center of the belfry and is fitted for either ringing 
or chiming. ^ 

On each bell is the inscription, *' Harris Chime. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 103 

This chime of sixteen bells was a gift of Miss Charlotte 
Harris to the First Parish Church, Charlestown, of 
which her ancestors, Harris and Devens, were members." 
On the side opposite the foregoing inscription, each 
contains another. 

That on the D bell is, " Glory to God in the highest, 
and on earth peace, good will to men." 

F sharp, " Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye 
lands." 

E, " Remember thy congregation, which thou hast 
purchased of old ; this Mount Zion, wherein thou hast 
dwelt." 

G, " Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy 
hill, for the Lord our God is holy." 

G sharp, " Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem ; praise thy 
God, O Zion. Praise God in His sanctuary." 

A, ** Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." 

A sharp, " Behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy which shall be to all the people." 

B, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." 

C, ** Being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

C sharp, " Behold, what manner of love the Father 
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the 
sons of God." 

D, " Holy Father, keep through thine own name 
those whom thou hast given Me." 

D sharp, " Suffer little children to come unto Me, 
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of 
God." 

E, " Behold, let us love one another, for love is of 
God." 

F sharp, " I am the resurrection and the life." 
G, " There shall be no night there. In Thy presence 
is fullness of joy." 



I04 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

A, " Salvation, and honor, and glory, and power unto 
the Lord our God." 

The chimes are to be rung on Sundays, national 
holidays, November 1 2 (the church anniversary), Christ- 
mas and Thanksgiving days, and at midnight on New 
Year's Eve ; but it is not always convenient for the 
ringer, Joel C. Bolan, who is organist, to attend on all 
these occasions, so that now, except Sundays, there is 
really no regular time for ringing. 

September 22, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 105 



XVII 
The Devens House on Chelsea Street 

Eminent Men among its Former Occupants — Bow Street again — 
Deacon Isaac Warren — William W. Wheildon — The 
Bunker Hill Aurora. 

THE house on Chelsea Street occupied by Mr. 
Devens was built in 1804 by Elisha T. Holmes, 
who came to Charlestown from Kingston with his 
brother, Melzar H., Jr. They purchased the land of 
Dr. Aaron Putnam in 1803, and erected two brick build- 
ings — the one above referred to, and the adjoining one 
that was for a long time the residence of Paymaster 
John Bates, and of his family after his death. The 
houses were occupied by the Holmeses for some years. 
Melzar Holmes died in 18 13. 

Some distinguished people have been connected with 
the history of the Devens house. Jeremiah Evarts, the 
father of Honorable William M. Evarts, now one of the 
senators in Congress from the State of New York, lived 
there from 1 8 1 2 to 1 8 1 7. He was a prominent man in 
town, and for a time one of its selectmen. He was 
active in the interests of the First Church, of which he 
was a member, and was well known as a philanthropist 
all over the country. 

This house, to some of us, is an unusually interesting 



io6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

place to keep in mind. Allusion to it never fails to 
touch the stream of pleasure, which flows out as fresh 
and charming as if it had never been shut off by shifting 
scenes and advancing age. Here, for some time, Mrs. 
Burrill kept a select school, and a dancing-school for 
children at which, on Wednesday and Saturday after- 
noons, the girls and boys would meet to receive instruc- 
tion in good manners and easy, graceful movement, and 
to be waked up to activity and merriment by the violin 
of old Mr. Moses Mann. The writer was one of the 
privileged at that time, whose first four steps and a jump 
were taken in one of the rooms in that house, and who 
afterwards shared in the enjoyment which the school 
always afforded. What a charming company of young 
people were the pupils of Mrs. Burrill's school, and how 
pleasant the recollection of it must be to those who 
made a part of it and are still in the land of the living ! 
Among these scholars all the time the school was kept 
were some of the children of Commodore Charles 
Morris, then in command of the Navy Yard. One of 
them, Louise, became the wife of William W. Corcoran, 
the eminent banker in Washington, and in her memory 
the Louise Home, in Washington, was established and 
named. 

When the Holmes house was purchased by Mr. 
Devens, it was remodeled and thoroughly repaired 
and painted outside, and a basement entrance was 
substituted for a high flight of steps that led up to the 
front door. 

Dr. Aaron Putnam, who sold the land to the Holmeses, 
was early in the century a very prominent man in Charles- 
town and its representive in the General Court in 1801- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 107 

'02. His residence was somewhere in this vicinity, and 
he had a large garden, a part of which seems to have 
been taken when the land for the Navy Yard was 
purchased. He was largely interested in real-estate 
and its improvement, and was the agent employed by 
the government for the purchase of land for a Navy 
Yard. 

A little distance from the Square, on the corner of 
Bow and Mason streets, stood the home of Deacon 
Isaac Warren, father of the late Judge G. Washington 
Warren. The house, which was of wood, and like many 
we have described, — oblong square, with one end on 
the street, — was one of the best of its kind, and always 
in excellent order. It was made attractive by a garden 
in front of it, and, before the time of railroad-tracks and 
freight-stations, it stood out as an inviting place of abode 
and a retreat from the cares and perplexities of busi- 
ness. 

Deacon Warren was a dignified gentleman and a mer- 
chant of ability and large means. He was one of the 
first vice-presidents of the Warren Institution for Sav- 
ings. He died March 19, 1834, aged seventy-six years. 
An obituary pubhshed at the time of his death speaks 
of him as " kind and affectionate in all the social rela- 
tions, and an active and useful citizen, a friend of the 
young, a liberal patron of education, and a firm supporter 
of religious institutions. He endowed an academy at 
Woburn which bears the name of Warren Academy, and, 
among the last items of business he was able to trans- 
act, gave over, by a deed, a large boarding-house for the 
benefit of the institution. He had recently given liber- 
ally in aid of Middlebury College. His last illness was 



io8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of less than a week's continuance. The church and 
society of which he was for so long a term a member will 
mourn his loss and bear in affectionate remembrance his 
liberal purposes and deeds." 

On the corner of Walford Street is a brick house 
which was built by Thomas F. H olden, son of Oliver 
H olden. When it was built it was looked upon as one 
of the most convenient and pleasant residences in the 
town. 

The block of brick houses opposite the Holden estate, 
on Bow Street, was occupied at various times by many 
citizens of mark who will be referred to again hereafter. 
We select one for special notice in this chapter. 

A communication from William W. Wheildon was 
recently printed giving an account of the erection of 
the brick building on Warren Street in which he lived 
before removing to one of these houses on Bow Street, 
where he remained until he took up his residence in 
Concord. 

William W. Wheildon came to Charlestown about 
1826, and opened a book-store with George Raymond, 
near the corner of Main and Harvard streets, under the 
style of Wheildon & Raymond. They soon after issued 
a prospectus for a newspaper to be published in Charles- 
town, and established a printing-office in the upper rooms 
of Austin's stone building, over their store. On the 12th 
of July, 1827, the first number of the paper was issued. 
It was called The Bunker Hill Aurora and Farmers' and 
Mechanics' Journal. The prospectus set forth the need 
of a newspaper in Charlestown and the County of 
Middlesex, and an appeal was made to the citizens of 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 109 

the neighboring towns for assistance in its support. 
Following the prospectus was an introductory article 
on the value of an independent press, and a promise of 
cheerful advocacy of a free bridge and faithful support of 
the national government. On the second page was an 
address to the public, in which the proprietors say they 
" approach the highest tribunal of a republican govern- 
ment with diffidence and respect." It had been their 
intention to start the paper on the 17th of June, 1827, 
but the encouragement offered was so limited that they 
came near abandoning the project in despair. They 
seemed, however, to have gained courage speedily, and 
on the 1 2th of July, as we have said, the first number 
was before the public. 

In February, 1833, the name of the paper was 
changed to The Bunker Hill Anrora a7id Middlesex 
County Advertiser, and it was issued simultaneously in 
Charlestown and Concord, Massachusetts ; and March 
21, 1834, the subscribers to The Boston Mirror were 
united with those of TJie Anrora, and the title was again 
changed, to TJie Bunker Hill Atirora and Boston Mirivr. 
C. W. Moore then became an associate with Mr. Wheil- 
don in the management of the paper. In the first 
number of Volume III. (183 1), the position of The 
Aurora on the Masonic question was defined as opposed 
to anti-Masonry, and the way was thus paved, perhaps, 
for the later connection of The Mi7^rorvnth. The Anivm. 
Mr. Moore, it will be recollected, was a high official in 
the order of Freemasons. Under the title last given, 
the paper was continued until 1871, when it became a 
thing of the past. The character of The Bunker Hill 



! 



iio OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Aurora was always creditable to the town, and reflected 
honor upon its editor and proprietor. A careful exam- 
ination of the paper for the many years of its publication 
will prove that it was ably conducted, and that it is a 
worthy subject of pride in recollections of the old 
town. A complete file of the paper can be seen at the ^ 
Charlestown Public Library. 

September 29, 1888. 






OLD CHARLESTOWN iii 



XVIII 

Prominent and Distinguished Men 

The Feltons — Robert Lovering and his Son, Professor Joseph 
Levering — Civil Engineering — The Morocco Industry. 



A 



MONG former residents on Bow Street were 
Henry Van Voorhis and Enoch Cook. They 
were largely engaged in the manufacture of 
morocco. The leather-dressing business in Charlestown 
was formerly an industry of much consequence, furnish- 
ing employment at good wages for a large number of 
men and boys and yielding very considerable profits to 
the employers. On that part of Main Street leading 
down to Charles River Bridge were many stores used 
for the sale of the product of morocco-factories, which 
were located on Cook's Lane just off Bow Street, at the 
foot of Arrow Street, on Henley's Lane (now Soley 
Street), and in several places at the Neck. 

Isaac Mead, Enoch Cook, Henry Van Voorhis, Samuel 
Kimball, William Fernald, and Kendall Bailey were the 
leading morocco-dressers at one time ; and later, Reuben 
Hunt, Joseph Souther, E. F. Cutter, Joseph Frost, 
Joshua Baldwin, Christopher Solis, Ichabod Lindsey, 
Abram P. Prichard ; and still later, Reynolds & Waitt, 
Smith Dyar, Moses B. Sewall, Freeman S. Sewall, 



112 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

George S. Hall, and others. After the opening of 
Warren Avenue there was a range of stores near the 
Warren Bridge occupied exclusively by these manufact- 
urers. 

Enoch Cook was a wool-dealer as well as morocco- 
dresser, and his place of business will be called to mind 
by his sign, a carved ram, which stood on a post before 
his store door about half-way between the Square and 
the entrance to Water Street. When this figure was 
first placed in position it was criticized as looking very 
natural with the exception of the horns — which, in fact, 
were real horns. Cook's Lane will no doubt be remem- 
bered by many as at one time a place of active business, 
and afterwards a scene of delapidation and unchecked 
decay. It was wiped out of existence by the enterprise 
of Mr. Dow, when he built the Waverley House. 

Henry Van Voorhis removed from Charlestown and 
established the mills at his farm just over the bridge in 
Maiden, where his sons still reside. 

The list of names which I have given includes many 
enterprising and successful business men of the old town, 
some of whom in their day were veiy prominent in its 
affairs. 

Thomas Marshall, who was so well known in town 
and who occupied the position of cashier of the Bunker 
Hill Bank from 1828 to 1859, lived for many years on 
Bow Street previous to his removal to the brick house 
on the corner of Bunker Hill and Webster streets. The 
house he occupied on Bow Street is still standing on the 
corner of what is now known as Marshall's Court. 
Mr. Marshall was at his post in the bank until he had 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 113 

passed his eightieth birthday. He retired on account of 
his age, retaining the full confidence and high esteem of 
the board of directors and of all who had ever been asso- 
ciated with him. He was a man of steding worth, 
respected and held in regard by everybody who knew 
him. He was the first treasurer of the Warren Institu- 
tion for Savings. Mr. Marshall was the father of 
General James F. B. Marshall, so well known by his 
connection with the Hampton Normal and Agricultural 
Institute, Hampton, Virginia. General Marshall was 
born in Charlestown, and married here, and seems 
always to have kept up an interest in the place. 

Another former resident on Bow Street was Cornelius 
Felton. He was at one time keeper of the alms-house, 
for a long time tollman on the Charles River Bridge, 
and, after the Fitchburg Railroad was built, superintend- 
ent of bridges for that company. His sons were very 
distinguished men ; the eldest, Cornelius C, being an 
able and popular professor and afterwards president of 
Harvard College. Another son, Samuel M. Felton, is 
referred to with pride as a resident in town for more 
than twenty years. After graduating from Harvard 
College, in 1834, he located here to take charge of a 
school for boys which had been established a year before 
by Professor Joseph Lovering, who was also a Charles- 
town boy. Mr. Felton soon became acquainted with 
Colonel Loammi Baldwin, and, at his request, undertook 
the instruction of some of the students in his office in 
physics, mathematics, and kindred subjects. In this 
way he became interested in engineering, and in a short 
time gave up his school and entered Colonel Baldwin's 



114 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

office as a regular student. He continued there until 
the death of Colonel Baldwin, when he took the office 
himself and succeeded to the business. 

Mr. Felton lived in several houses in town, but for the 
longest time at No. 5 Harvard Row. He was always 
interested in town affairs, and was for a good while an 
active and very valuable member of the school commit- 
tee. He was the engineer of the Fitchburg Railroad 
and of the Vermont Central Railroad, and afterwards 
president of the Fitchburg road. He left here to take 
the position of president of the Philadelphia, Baltimore 
& Wilmington Railroad, making his residence in Phil- 
adelphia, where he is known as one of the most dis- 
tinguished railroad engineers and managers in the 
country. He is now president of the Pennsylvania Steel 
Company. His office was in the Bunker Hill Bank 
building ; not the present building, but the granite build- 
ing that stood on the same spot and was taken down 
when the building now occupied by the bank was erected. 
Among the students were George A. Parker, William B. 
Stearns, Thomas Doane, Charles L. Stevenson, Samuel 
R. Johnson, William E. Babbitt, John Harris, Joseph 
Whitney, Eben Baker, D. A. Sanborn — most of these 
being Charlestown boys. The office has been continued 
in the same place up to the present time, although the 
building has been changed, and very important engineer- 
ing work for the railroads of to-day is now being done 
there by Mr. Thomas Doane. George A. Parker married 
the sister of Mr. Felton and was his partner for some 
years. William B. Stearns was chief engineer of the 
Fitchburg Railroad, and its president. C. L. Stevenson 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



115 



was the engineer of the Mystic Water Works, assisted 
by George R. Baldwin as consulting engineer. William 
E. Babbitt is chief engineer of the Vermont Central 
Railroad. Joseph Whitney was treasurer of the City of 
Cambridge. Samuel R. Johnson was engineer for a 
while of the Old Colony road. Mr. Doane's fame and 
extensive engineering work is too well known to require 
notice except in a general way at this time. 

Robert Lovering, father of Professor Joseph Lovering, 
of Harvard College, lived in Middlegate, now Prescott 
Street. He was a tobacconist doing a very considerable 
business in his line for many years. In the summer he 
spent a good deal of time on the water, having great 
fondness for what we now term yachting. In other 
words, he owned a good sail-boat, and many enjoyable 
times were had by parties taken down the harbor in her. 
Skipper Lovering's Crowninshield and Tapley's Tippe- 
canoe couldn't make as good time as the Puritan and 
VoliLnteeVy and the interest in their races was not as 
widely extended, but they were known in the harbor as 
crack boats, their respective merits and comparative 
qualities were town talk, and they each had friends 
and backers. 

Professor Joseph Lovering was born in Charlestown, 
and resided here until he entered Harvard College. 
After his graduation he returned and opened a private 
school, which he gave up to Mr. Felton when he was 
called to Cambridge to enter upon his duties as an 
instructor there. He has been professor of mathematics 
and natural philosophy since 1838. He is kept in mind 
here especially by the boys of the old Town Hill School, 



ii6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

who remember his high standing in it and are proud 
of him as their school-fellow and former townsman.* 

October 13, 1888. 



*At the ninth annual reunion of the Schoolboys' Association, held 
in January, 1889, the following votes were passed, and were sent by the 
secretary to Professor Levering : 

Voted, That this Association congratulates Professor Joseph Lovering, 
a former pupil of the old Town Hill School, upon his eminent career as 
a professor in Harvard College during the full period of fifty years ; and 
upon the success of his life as a scholar and a man, reflecting honor on 
his native towTi. 

Voted, That the high appreciation and best wishes of each member of 
the Association be respectfully tendered to Professor Lovering, with the 
hope that the remainder of his days may be filled with all the blessings 
that make life desirable and distinguished. 

Appended is Professor Lovering's reply: 

Cambridge, January 21, 1889. 

Dear Sir: — I thank you for your favor of January 18, informing me 
of the votes passed by the Town Hill and Training Field Schoolboys' 
Association at its ninth annual reunion. Among the many congratula- 
tions which have come to me, on occasion of my jubilee, there is none 
more acceptable than this recognition from your Association. The days 
and years which I passed in the Town Hill School were happy ones. I 
still remember the once familiar names of my schoolmates, and some of 
them I have seen at intervals since we parted : and always with pleasure. 

As the opportunity occurs, you will oblige me by making known to 

the members of the Association my interest in its prosperity, and my 

sense of the honor conferred upon me by their complimentary votes. 

Very truly yours, 
Mr. A. B. Shedd, Joseph Lovering. 

Secretary. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 117 



XIX 



The Father of Civil Engineering in 

America 

The Baldwin Estate — James Harrison — Captain Thomas 
Beckford — Colonel Loammi Baldwin — George R. Baldwin. 



THE lot of land on which stood what was long 
known as the Baldwin house, fronting on Main 
Street between School and Salem streets, was a 
part of the estate of Stephen Pierce, whose ancestors 
were among the earliest settlers in the old town. It was 
conveyed in 1799 to James Harrison, by Samuel Pierce, 
Elizabeth Pierce, and widow Mary Damon, as a part of 
the estate of their father, Stephen Pierce, above men- 
tioned. The first wife of John Harrison, father of James, 
was Martha, daughter of Stephen Pierce, and a part of 
the estate may have been inherited by James from his 
mother. 

Some time after purchasing the lot, James Harrison 
built the square house which is now standing on School 
Street, on the left hand side going up the hill, numbered 
16 and 18. It was moved to its present site about 1870, 
when the Baldwin estate was sold to Frederic Clapp, cut 
up into lots, and Linwood Place laid out. 

The Harrison or Baldwin estate contained a little less 
than an acre of land, running through from Main to 



ii8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

High streets. The house stood back from Main Street, 
nearly in the center of the lot. Its rooms were large, 
well finished and arranged, and it had all the conveniences 
of an old-time first class residence. In front of the 
house was a sloping grass-plot or lawn, with here and 
there an ornamental tree, and clumps of shrubs and 
evergreens, sufficient to give the whole a pleasing effect. 
This was inclosed, on Main Street, by an open fence, 
with a gateway opening into a walk that led directly to 
the front door. Along the sides of this walk, and in 
beds each side of the door-steps, flowers were cultivated. 
On the side of the lot nearest School Street was a 
carriage-way leading to the house and to the fruit-garden 
in its rear. In this garden were grown such fruits as 
were common at the time in most gardens of any size in 
town — grapes, currants and raspberries, a few apples, 
cherries and pears, native peaches and plums. What a 
pity it is that the fine peaches and plums of that day 
were suffered to run out, and be lost to the sight and 
taste forever ! But the borers and curculio came, bent 
on destruction ; the late spring frosts and the unseason- 
able summer showers came to discourage and disappoint 
— came to kill the blossoms of the peach and crack the 
not quite ripened plum ; and the old " Yellow Rareripe " 
and " Jaques Admirable " peaches and the delicious 
" Green Gage " plum were suffered to become things of 
the past — to be enjoyed by the memory, but no longer 
by the eyes and palate. 

The double brick house, which stands on the corner of 
High and Salem streets, was also built by James Har- 
rison or his father. His father lived in the half of it 
that fronted on the fruit-garden we have described. His 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 119 

lot was inclosed by a slat fence, in which was a gate 
opening into a pathway that led through the son's garden 
to his house — a convenient and pleasant connection of 
family estates. 

James Harrison was the owner of a good deal of real- 
estate in this vicinity and in other parts of the town and 
in Boston. The wooden church which stood at the head 
of Salem Street was a part of his estate when he died. 
This church was originally occupied by the First Baptist 
Society, and afterwards, in 18 1 5, was sold by the Harrison 
heirs to the Second Congregational (Unitarian) Society, 
who worshiped there until they built the brick (Harvard) 
church on the spot where the old Indian Chief Hotel 
stood on Main Street, between Green and Wood streets. 
After the wooden church was given up by the Unitarians, 
it was purchased by the First Methodist Society and was 
occupied by them for many years, until their removal to 
another wooden church, built and used for a while by the 
Second Baptist Society, situated on High Street opposite 
the entrance to Elm Street. This church was enlarged 
by the Methodists, but was afterwards destroyed by fire. 
The present large and handsome brick church, known 
as the Trinity Methodist, stands on the same site as the 
wooden church we refer to. 

In the early days of the Methodists in town they were 
known by a peculiarity of dress, that of the women being 
not unlike the plain and simple dress of the Quakers. 
Their close light-colored silk bonnets must be remem- 
bered by many of the older residents. Some of the 
most distinguished Methodist clergymen were heard in 
the old ** Salim Hill " church, especially in times of a 
revival ; among others the eloquent and famous revivalist 



I20 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

and preacher, John N. Maffit, who occupied the pulpit 
on several of these occasions. 

James Harrison, who was a merchant, lived in the 
house built by him, until January 20, 18 12, the time of 
his death, aged forty-five years. He had been supposed 
to be a wealthy man, but his estate was found to be 
largely encumbered and was settled with much difficulty 
and delay. 

In 18 1 7 the administrator of the estate sold the 
Mansion House to Captain Thomas Beckford, merchant, 
who had been a shipmaster in the employ of William 
Gray, and whose wife was Catherine, sister of Samuel 
Williams, an eminent American banker living in London, 
England. Captain Beckford lived here until he died in 
1820, and his widow continued her residence until 1828, 
when she was married again, to Colonel Loammi Bald- 
win. 

Captain Beckford had previously lived in the house 
now known as the Kettell house, on Chestnut and 
Adams streets ; and his daughter, the widow of George 
R. Baldwin, recently deceased, was born in that house. 
He was one of the original members of the Unitarian 
Society, and was among the fifty subscribers to the fund 
for the purchase of the first church occupied by them. 

Colonel Baldwin lived in this house until June 30, 
1838, when he died. I began my notices of old Charles- 
town residents by quoting a remark concerning Samuel 
Dexter, an eminent man, whose great ability and valuable 
services in the early history of the United States govern- 
ment were never questioned. I now refer to another 
man of eminence, whose position, high up above the 
ordinary standard of intelligent persons, was held 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 121 

securely, through a life of usefulness, by nobleness of 
nature, genius, ability, courage, and industry. It is no 
small thing to say that the man who for so long a term 
of years was thinking out, planning, and directing so 
many of the great public works of his day, was a citizen 
of Charlestown ; that in this old house, by the busy 
brain of its occupant, the problems necessary for the 
successful construction of many of them were solved. 
The first office opened by Colonel Baldwin, as a civil 
engineer, was in Charlestown, as early as 1808, and 
what was going on within the limits of the old town 
under his direction during many years must have been a 
very important part of the work necessary for the con- 
struction and completion of a large proportion of the 
great public improvements of his time. 

Professor Vose, of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, in his " Sketch of the Life and Works of 
Loammi Baldwin," published in 1885, says: "No man 
so well deserves the name of the Father of Civil Engi- 
neering in America as Loammi Baldwin. Living, as he 
did, before the days of the railroad system, and almost 
before engineering was recognized as a profession, his 
name is known to very few at the present time ; but 
there is no one man among the leaders of industrial work 
in this country to whom we owe more. There were very 
few works of internal improvement carried out in Amer- 
ica during the first thirty years of the present century 
with which Mr. Baldwin was not connected, and his two 
great works, the government dry docks at Charlestown 
and at Norfolk, stand to-day unsurpassed among the 
engineering structures of the country." 

The library of Colonel Baldwin is said by competent 



122 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

judges to have been " the largest and best professional 
library of engineering-works that was to be found in 
America." He was a classmate, in Harvard College, 
with Washington Allston and other noted men, and some 
of Allston's best paintings ornamented the walls of this 
house. Colonel Baldwin was an intimate friend of 
Allston, and the exquisite picture, '< Floramel of Spen- 
cer," was painted for him by Allston. His social qual- 
ities were of marked excellence, and he entertained with 
much hberality. He was a man of fine presence and 
courteous manners, and was highly gifted in conversa- 
tion. In 1835 he was a member of the Governor's 
Council, and in the following year one of the Presiden- 
tial Electors of the State, casting his vote with his 
associates for Daniel Webster. 

After the death of Colonel Baldwin his wife continued 
her residence in the old mansion, until her own death. 
May 3, 1864. George R. Baldwin, brother of the 
Colonel, then took the house and occupied it until the 
estate was sold as before mentioned. He was also a 
distinguished civil-engineer, having charge of the con- 
struction of many important public works in the United 
States and in Canada ; and he was employed as consult- 
ing engineer for many others, among them the Mystic 
Water Works for the City of Charlestown. His recent 
death, Friday, October 12, 1888, at the old Baldwin 
homestead in Woburn, at the advanced age of ninety 
years, has been noticed by all the newspapers with 
appropriate eulogistic remarks. 

October 27, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 123 



XX 
The Vineyard 

Isaac Mead — David Haggerston — The Mead Home. 

THE wooden house which now stands on Eden 
Street, next to the brick house on the corner of 
Eden and Main streets, is undoubtedly a pleasant 
place of residence ; but there was a time in the history 
of the old town when it was more attractive and inviting. 
It was moved from its original location to make room for 
the block of brick buildings fronting on Main Street, one 
of which is the corner house we have referred to. 

Before its removal this house was on the corner of the 
two streets, at some distance from the sidewalks, having 
a front on each — a handsome, well-proportioned building 
surrounded with ornamental shrubs and trees, many of 
them evergreens, and some uncommonly fine larches. 
The house stood a little above the level of the sidewalk, 
with several steps to the doors, an open fence running 
around the corner from the foot of the steps, and a 
terrace or bank in this inclosure, about half-way between 
the fence and the building. Beyond this open fence on 
Main Street was a close fence running along Main Street 
as far as the Cutter estate, still intact, and then on a line 
parallel with Eden Street up to the line of what is now 
the Winchester Home estate. Above the building on 
Eden Street, on the upper line of the estate, stood the 



124 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

stable, with its end on the street and fronting the stable- 
yard, which was inclosed by a fence and gate on Eden 
Street, and a row of sheds for carriages and other pur- 
poses on the other line, running from the stable to the 
house. The land running up from Main Street beyond 
the house, and behind these sheds, was used for a fruit 
and flower garden, and was cultivated with taste and 
care. 

I am describing this estate as it was when it was the 
residence of Isaac Mead and in its best condition, from 
about 1819 to 1832. 

The house was built early in the century, by Richard 
Frothingham, the grandfather of Richard Frothingham, 
the historian. The Frothinghams date back to the 
earliest settlement of the town. Their ancestor, William 
Frothingham, came over with Governor Winthrop's com- 
pany in 1630. He left a good name as well as an estate 
to his descendants, many of whom in times past made 
Charlestown their home and were so prominent in its 
affairs that several chapters, at least, in its history should 
be devoted to their remembrance. At present I refer 
only to Richard Frothingham, the builder and for many 
years occupant of this house. 

Mr. Mead had another large garden at the upper end 
of Eden Street, which took in all the land lying between 
Eden, Mead, Russell, and what is now called Walpole 
streets. The large lot now vacant on the opposite 
corner of Eden and Russell streets was also a part of 
this garden. It was called the " Vineyard," and was 
known outside of as well as in Charlestown by all the 
horticulturalists of the time. David Haggerston, who 
resided for some years in town, was the gardener ; and 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 125 

under his advice and supervision the place was originally- 
laid out. The late Honorable Marshall P. Wilder, one 
of the presidents of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society as well as of the Massachusetts Historic 
Genealogical Society, remarks concerning this place, in 
the history of horticulture in Boston written by him for 
the Memorial History of Boston, as follows : 

In Charlestown, also, was the " Vineyard " under the 
care of David Haggerston, one of the pioneers of the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society and afterwards the 
gardener of John P. Gushing, at Watertown. This 
garden was an experimental one, and devoted almost 
exclusively to the testing of foreign varieties of the 
grape in open ground, and other small fruits, and here 
was first introduced from Europe the famous Keen's 
seedling strawberry. Here was a greenhouse, containing 
a fine collection of the camelia, where the writer [Golonel 
Wilder] saw this elegant plant in bloom for the first time 
in his life. 

The garden contained many rare and valuable plants, 
and it was a success under the management of Mr. 
Haggerston ; but, as Mr. Wilder says, he was called to 
a larger field by Mr. Gushing in laying out his extensive 
grounds in Watertown, and in planning, constructing, 
and managing the flower-gardens, greenhouses, fruit- 
orchards, lawns, and groves which gave fame to that 
beautiful estate and made it for many years the pride of 
every citizen of Massachusetts. 

Until Mr. Mead died, in 1832, the garden was very- 
well kept up. It was afterwards leased, and gradually 
ran down until it was finally discontinued as a garden 
and cut up into building-lots. 



126 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Isaac Mead was one of the successful morocco- 
dressers in town to whom I have before referred. He 
had several factories at the Neck and elsewhere, and a 
store in Boston, at one time in North Market Street. 
He became a large dealer in sheep and goat skins, and 
was known among the merchants of his day as an able 
and successful business man. He was prominent in the 
town for many years, was one of the founders of the 
First Universalist Society, one of the first board of 
directors of the Bunker Hill Bank, and one of the 
board of trustees of the Warren Institution for Savings. 
The first deposit in the latter institution was made by 
him for his son, when the boy was five years old, the first 
book issued by the bank being in the name of Isaac 
Henry Mead. 

Mr. Mead's custom was to ride to his place of business 
in Boston in his own carriage, and in his stable could 
always be found a good horse to take him there. He 
was fond of hunting, and was one of the Hunters' Club 
referred to several times before. 

The family occupied a good social position and is 
pleasantly remembered by many old residents who are 
still living. Mrs. Mead was an amiable, interesting 
woman, and an efficient helper in the benevolent work 
of her time. Her name can be found among the 
" original subscribers to organize the Female Benevolent 
Society in Charlestown," now known as the Devens 
Benevolent Society. 

Two of the daughters married sons of John Wills, of 
Newburyport, who, with their father, were merchants 
engaged in the Calcutta trade. The eldest daughter was 
the wife of Ephraim L. Snow, a merchant in Boston. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 127 

In early life Mr. Snow was an officer in the Rifle 
Rangers, a popular military organization in Boston, and 
he was also a master spirit in the old volunteer fire 
department of Boston. He was the person who first 
answered the question so often asked, " Who struck 
Billy Patterson .? " — quieting, at the time of the Broad 
Street riot, the excitement of the original questioner and 
effectually silencing him by the reply, "This is the 
individual who struck Billy Patterson." 

Another daughter of Mr. Mead was the wife of 
Captain Seth Barker. The son, Isaac Henry, before 
mentioned, a young man of much promise, but who died 
early, married a daughter of John Fosdick. The old 
homestead, the Vineyard, and the family of Isaac Mead, 
as connected with the history of the old town, will be 
recalled and remembered with pleasure, I have no 
doubt. 

November io, 1888. 



128 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXI 
Charlestown Square — Main Street 

The Hurds — Skinner, Hurd & Co. — John Skinner — John 
Kurd. 

THE name of Hurd appears among the earliest 
records of the town of Charlestown, and it has 
been connected with much that goes to make up 
its history. Jacob Hurd, son of John, of Boston, was 
admitted to the Charlestown church April 3, 1681, and 
a gravestone in the old burial-ground gives the date of 
his death, September 7, 1694. One of his sons, a 
grandson, and a great-grandson, each bearing the name 
of Benjamin, were active business men, all owners of 
estates and interested in the enterprising movements of 
their day. The second Benjamin must have been a 
prominent man, as his name appears very often in the 
town records as an official, and his dwelling, which was 
destroyed by the burning of the town in 1775, was one 
of the best. A very full description of the estate, made 
by Mr. Hurd himself when presenting his estimate of 
loss to a committee appointed by the town, March, 1776, 
to receive such estimates, warrants this conclusion. 

The house was on Main Street, on the site now occupied 
by Hotel Gahm, and the lines of the estate ran through 
from Main Street to Town Hill, where the stable stood, 
the northern boundary being on Hurd's Lane, still intact. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 129 

Mr. Hurd was a leather-dresser by trade, and a success- 
ful man. He died July 30, 1808, when he was ninety 
years old. 

The building here mentioned, which shared the fate 
of all the others in Charlestown at the time of the battle 
of Bunker Hill, was of brick. The next house built 
upon the same lot of land was of wood and brick, and 
will be pretty generally remembered, as it kept its place 
without great change until the site was wanted for the 
erection of Hotel Gahm only a few years ago. For 
many years it was known as the house with the willow- 
tree in front of it, and better, perhaps, as the residence 
of Dr. J. Stearns Hurd. It had been the homestead of 
his father, Benjamin, who died here. May 5, 1823. 

This Benjamin Hurd was a merchant doing business 
in Charlestown, first with John Larkin, under the name 
of Larkin & Hurd, and afterwards with his son-in-law, 
John Skinner. They were dealers in West India goods, 
groceries, and all kinds of country produce. Their first 
place of business was in the old brick store on the corner 
of Henley and Main streets ; from there they moved to 
the store on the Square now occupied by Francis Downer. 
The firm of Skinner & Hurd was originally composed of 
Benjamin Hurd, Benjamin Hurd, Jr., and John Skinner ; 
but at the time they purchased the store in the Square 
from Joseph Hurd (another son of Benjamin, the leather- 
dresser), John Skinner, John Hurd, and William Hurd 
were the partners. William Hurd withdrew soon after. 
Later, John F. Skinner was admitted into the firm, and 
the style was changed to Skinner, Hurd & Co. 

This business house carried on an extensive trade for 
thirty or forty years, and was very widely known. 



ijo OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Charlestown was at this time an important business 
place. There were many wholesale dealers and jobbers 
in the town, and large quantities of produce from the 
country towns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 
Vermont found a market here, or were exchanged for 
the goods and wares on sale in Charlestown stores. At 
certain seasons of the year the Square was full of large, 
unwieldy baggage-wagons, in which, at that time, most of 
the products of farms, manufactories, and so forth, were 
moved to market. After a week's stay here, spent in 
unloading, loading up, and making exchanges and settle- 
ments, these wagons would start on their return, laden 
with the essentials for comfortable country living, pur- 
chases from the town stores. 

The writer is not infrequently reminded by old farmers 
and country storekeepers of what an active place of busi- 
ness Charlestown was in times past, and of the extensive 
trade done at the store of Skinner & Hurd. They were 
the leading grocers and produce-dealers in town ; and it 
has been said that for many years they were not second 
in the extent of their operations to any house doing the 
same kind of business in Boston. 

Skinner & Hurd were large owners of real-estate, and 
active in everything tending to promote the growth and 
welfare of the town. 

John Skinner's house was on Main Street, opposite 
the old Washington Hall, or S. Kidder and Co.'s apoth- 
ecary-store. The same building, wood with brick ends, 
is now changed into an apartment-house with two stores 
on the ground floor. In the days we refer to, when its 
painted white front was never allowed to lose its luster, 
it was a handsome dwelling-house, and its internal 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 131 

arrangements were such as were appropriate and in every- 
way creditable for a successful business man of the time. 
It was always a pleasant home, and the family was 
among those to whom we have before referred, who 
entertained their friends with liberality and elegance and 
did their part towards building up and maintaining the 
social character of the town. 

John Skinner was an active, enterprising merchant of 
the old school. From a business viewpoint, there was a 
time when he was properly looked upon as the most 
prominent man in the old town. He was president of 
the Warren Institution for Savings for five years, from 
1835 to 1840; a director in one of the Boston banks 
(the Eagle, I think) for many years ; and one of the 
original and most active members of the Unitarian 
Society. The fine glass chandelier still hanging in the 
church was a gift from him. He was a kind man, and 
his friendly help and good advice have been gratefully 
acknowledged by many who, from a small beginning in 
times past, grew into importance in the town. His name 
stood at the head of the petition to the Legislature in 
1823 for authority to build the Warren Bridge, and all 
through the controversy which resulted in free bridges 
from Charlestown to Boston he was a leading man. In 
an interesting historical sketch of the two bridges, I find 
this remark concerning the building of the Warren 
Bridge : " Mr. Skinner was the master spirit of the 
enterprise, and it was mainly owing to his indomitable 
energy and perseverance that the project was con- 
summated." He moved from Charlestown when an 
old man, to Lexington, where he died, September 12, 
1855. 



132 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

The large square building now occupied by J. W. 
Rand and William Murray & Son was the former man- 
sion house of John Hurd. The house and large garden 
in the rear, which extended to Warren Street, were 
always kept in the best condition. The affirmation of 
a happy home here, also, and of a generous social spirit 
freely exercised, is but a plain statement of facts. 

John Hurd, as a man and a citizen of Charlestown, 
should be remembered with great satisfaction. He was 
a gentleman, quiet and dignified in manner, regular and 
methodical in habits, sincere and thoughtful in action. 
As a business man he was efficient, intelligent, and 
honest. His integrity could never be questioned ; and 
his excellent qualities were so marked that no suggestion 
of deception in his character could ever be entertained. 
His family, his friends, his church, his townsmen were 
sure of his fidelity. He was not an ambitious man, but 
a true man — looked up to, esteemed, and respected by 
all who came in contact with him. 

I shall have something to say hereafter about Dr. J. 
Stearns Hurd. 

November 24, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 133 




XXII 
The Hurds 

Mansion of Joseph Hurd — Dr. Josiah Stearns Hurd — William 
Kurd. 

ENJAMIN HURD, to whom, in the previous 
article, we referred as the founder, with John 
Skinner, of the business house of Skinner & 
Hurd, was one of the earliest pew-holders in the Uni- 
versalist Church. One of his daughters was the wife 
of Jechonias Thayer, a merchant in New Orleans. 

Of his sons, Benjamin, whom we have mentioned as 
one of his partners, Isaac, who was a merchant doing 
business for many years in New Orleans, and Dr. Josiah 
Stearns, were men of large stature and great activity. 
Benjamin died September 16, 18 13, when he was thirty- 
six years old. Isaac, who spent a good deal of time in 
Charlestown in the summer months, died in Mobile, 
April 26, 185 1, at the age of sixty-six. Josiah Stearns 
died March 25, 1855, when he was fifty-nine years old. 

Dr. Josiah Stearns Hurd was for more than a quarter 
of a century a leading and very highly esteemed citizen 
of the town. He was an uncommonly useful man, 
deservedly popular with all classes in the community, for 
he kept himself in pleasant contact with and was the true 
friend of all. He was the good physician whose intel- 
ligence and skill checked and cured disease, and whose 



134 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

cheerfulness was a continual blessing and benediction to 
his patients and friends. He could join heartily in the 
enjoyment of those who were fortunate and cheerful, and 
he could throw a ray of sunshine into a shadowed heart 
or dispel the mists gathering around a troubled mind. 
His faculty of preparing the indisposed for the medical 
treatment they required was remarkable, and by impart- 
ing courage and hope he gave nature a chance to right 
herself without the aid of other specifics. All the little 
incidents of town life, with its jokes and mishaps, were 
turned to good account and ingeniously used by a fine 
story-teller to shorten the visage and quicken circulation 
when he found these tending in the other direction. 
Nevertheless he kept a sharp eye upon the approach of 
disease, and was prepared for the enemy if it made 
advances. He honestly earned what he possessed — the 
confidence of the whole community as a skillful and 
kind-hearted physician. 

Doctor Hurd was interested in the affairs of the town 
and held many of its offices. He was for some years on 
the board of selectmen, and twice, in 1829 and in 1834, 
a member of the House of Representatives in the 
Massachusetts Legislature, from Charlestown. His wife, 
a daughter of Dr. Abraham R. Thompson, was an ac- 
complished woman, prominent in the pleasant neighbor- 
hood we have been describing and in the social life of 
the town. 

On Tuesday afternoon, March 20, 1855, while on a 
professional visit at the residence of Mr. H. Wellington 
on Washington Street, Doctor Hurd was taken suddenly 
ill. On the following Saturday The Bimker Hill Aurora 
alluded to the fact as follows : 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 135 

Doctor Hurd has not yet been removed to his own 
residence. His ilhiess produced a great sensation among 
our citizens on Wednesday. The interest in his welfare 
has been unabated during the week, and all will be grat- 
ified to learn that there is now reason to hope for his 
recovery. 

But this was only the language of hope, for he died 
the next day, Sunday, March 25, 1855. The next num- 
ber of The Aurora contained the following, written by 
Mr. Wheildon : 

The life of Dr. J. Stearns Hurd is a delightful tes- 
timony in favor of real goodness. The true charm of his 
life was goodness. His noble form was a fit emblem of 
his noble heart, which expanded to beat in kindly unison 
with the great heart of humanity. He was emphatically 
the people's man. He lived and sympathized with his 
fellow-men, and did them all the good he could in every 
relation of life. Having spent his days in their service, 
he died at his post of duty, and lay down in his shroud 
in peace with God and all mankind. 

Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis, in his remarks at the 
funeral, which took place at the Unitarian Church, 
said : 

He fell asleep gently, quietly, and in composure, as 
he had wished that he might, with the dearest compan- 
ions to fill the last vision of his eye on earth, and the 
testimony of a useful, a genial, and an unspotted life left 
behind him. He loved, he honored, he devoted himself 
to the physician's calling, and the good physician is a 
minister of God. Never, never was it well performed 
but by one whose skill of mind and gentleness of heart 
were measured equally to him by the Giver of the gift 
of healing. His was a life of well performed work, and 
God had appointed its close a calm and easy close. 



136 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

The stores on Main Street were generally closed on 
the afternoon of the funeral ceremonies. The greatest 
interest was manifested by his numerous friends and 
patients during his sickness, and the highest respect was 
paid to his memory by the citizens, almost without 
exception. 

I take the scriptural quotation used for the heading 
of Mr. Wheildon's article in TJie Aurora to close what 
I have to say about Doctor Hurd : 

" Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright : for 
the end of that man is peace." 

Joseph Hurd, to whom I have already referred as one 
of the sons of Benjamin, the leather-dresser, and who 
was an uncle of Doctor Hurd, was a man of very marked 
character and full of good works. He was a merchant, 
having a large property for his time, and was the owner 
of a great deal of real-estate in town. He was for some 
years a partner with John Larkin, under the firm name of 
Larkin & Hurd. He built and occupied the store in the 
Square before it was purchased by Skinner 8z: Hurd, and 
carried on an extensive trade there. He retired from 
business about 1 8 1 7, and lived in Charlestown until the 
death of his wife, August 5, 1825. He soon after moved 
to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where two of his 
daughters lived, remaining there until August 14, 1842, 
the time of his death at the age of ninety years. He 
was a member of the First Church from October 18, 
1772, until June i, 18 17, when he was dismissed to the 
Unitarian Church, where he was a prominent and very 
generous member as long as he remained in town. A 
silver communion-service and a handsome edition of the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 137 

Holy Bible were among his early gifts to the church. 
The second gift of a Bible, the one now in use in the 
church, was made by his son, William Hurd, in memory 
of his father, in 1843. Joseph Hurd was a member 
of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, from 
Charlestown, in 18 14. 

The old Joseph Hurd mansion still maintains its 
position on Main Street, nearly opposite the entrance to 
Winthrop Street. Elevated a few feet above the side- 
walk and roadway, it stands proudly up, a fine specimen 
of the best class of houses in the olden time. Every- 
thing else in its vicinity has changed. It is no longer a 
neighborhood of Hurds, or of friends having the same 
interests and bound together by ties of consanguinity or 
long intimacy. The other old mansions we have referred 
to, the residences of these friends, have been converted 
into tenement-houses and stores, or torn down to make 
room for modern buildings used for the same purpose. 
The quiet comfort, the contentment and enjoyment of 
family life in the past, is no longer there. In its place 
is the restlessness and confusion of the life of to-day. 
But there stands the old mansion, with the same green 
lawn in front of it, the same terraced garden running up 
to the old Town Hill, the same noble horse-chestnut and 
maple trees stretching higher and higher up towards the 
sky, as inviting as ever to the birds on their return in 
springtime. An air of comfort and consequence is yet 
about the place, and the present occupants are descend- 
ants of the old family who have uninterruptedly occupied 
it from the time it was built, almost a century ago. The 
land was formerly a part of the property of Thomas 
Flucker, a Tory who fled to the Provinces. The com- 



138 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

monwealth confiscated his estate, and sold this part of it 
to Joseph Hurd in 1785. The house was built about 
ten years afterwards. 

William Hurd, one of the sons of Joseph, was for a 
little while, as we have before stated, a member of the 
firm of Skinner & Hurd, but he retired from business 
when quite a young man. He continued to live in the 
house formerly occupied by his father, until his death, 
March 21, 1872, when he was ninety-one years old. 
He was the last survivor of the founders of Harvard 
Church, a quiet gentleman of good intellectual taste and 
charitable impulses. Judge Francis W. Hurd is one of 
his sons, and the wives of Honorable James Dana, one 
of the mayors of Charlestown, and of Alexander Wheeler, 
of the distinguished law-firm of Hutchins & Wheeler, 
Boston, were his daughters. His other children are still 
the occupants of the old house, and they, with George 
A. Skinner and his sister, Mrs. J. Bowers Thompson, are 
the only remaining representatives in town of the once 
numerous Hurd family. 

December 22, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 139 



XXIII 

Matthew Rice 

A Memorial Tribute. 

BUT few persons who have lived in Charlestown 
have left a record so excellent in all respects as 
the late Matthew Rice. Looked at from any point 
of view it is clean and satisfactory. A kind and intel- 
ligent man, honest in thought and deed, all the valuable 
qualities that go to make up a thoroughly good citizen 
were combined in his character and ran through his 
whole life. No man has ever been more generally 
respected in town, and assent to this high estimate of his 
character will be as general, I am sure. But Mr. Rice 
was an abler, stronger man than is generally known, and 
the community in which he lived did not always in times 
past appreciate fully the value of his services. He was 
a modest man, whose aim was higher than popular 
applause. What was before him was accuracy, com- 
pleteness, thoroughness, in whatever he had to do, and 
his thought and perseverance were ever equal to success. 
He filled many important positions requiring superior 
intelligence and great industry, and his completed works 
always praised him. He was a constant attendant on 
the Sunday services at church, — for many years in the 
Universalist Society, with whose early history he was 
fully acquainted, and afterwards in the Unitarian. Both 



I40 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

these societies will cherish his memory and miss his 
presence, for he kept his interest in both, and no one was 
ever more welcome than he at any of their gatherings. 
Here, and in his home, — always a sacred place, — and 
in faithful attention to business, he found his chief enjoy- 
ment and filled out the successful life we would have 
remembered. 

Matthew Rice was born in Boston, at the North End, 
January 14, 1802. He came to Charlestown in 1808 
and attended public school in the old school-house on 
Town Hill, when Masters Gleason, Fuller, and Dodge 
were the teachers. He afterwards attended the academy 
on Cordis Street, then under the charge of Mr. Brown. 
He then made a foreign voyage with his father, who was 
a shipmaster. After returning home, he was apprenticed 
on the 27th of September, 18 17, to Caleb Pierce, who 
was master-joiner at the Navy Yard, Charlestown, and 
he vv^as also employed on repairs of vessels belonging to 
William Gray when that eminent merchant occupied and 
used the Charlestown wharves for much of his extensive 
business. Upon attaining the age of twenty years, young 
Rice was acting-quartermaster in the joiners' department 
at the Navy Yard. Soon after becoming of age he was 
appointed foreman under Mr. Pierce in that department, 
and he had charge of framing and finishing some of the 
largest buildings at that station, including the ropewalk, 
two ship-houses, three timber-sheds, dwelling-houses, and 
other buildings. He was also engaged in finishing off a 
large number of vessels built and repaired at the yard, 
including the old frigate ConstitictioUj the first vessel 
occupying the new dry dock. His term of service in the 
joiners' department was nineteen years. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 141 

In April, 1836, he was appointed inspector of timber, 
serving the government in that capacity eighteen years. 
Soon after leaving the yard in 1854, he was appointed 
master-builder of the Charles River Bridge and of the 
repairs on Warren Bridge, being employed there nearly 
four years. About that time he served in the City 
Council of Charlestown, and was also chosen on the 
board of assessors, but this office he was too much 
engaged to accept. For some two or three years after 
leaving the bridges, and at other intervals when not 
engaged on public works, he was employed in measuring 
and inspecting timber for vessels built in Medford, 
Chelsea, East Boston, and other places. He also 
inspected timber for foreign governments, and was 
engaged a good deal in measuring the storage capacity 
of various classes of vessels, making estimates, and so 
forth. 

He was one of the first members of the Mystic Water 
Board, elected in 1862, and to that board, consisting of 
Edward Lawrence, Matthew Rice, and George H. Jacobs, 
the credit of the successful and economical construction 
of the Charlestown Water Works is fairly due. He 
remained on the board between two and three years. 
In 1870 and 1871 he was employed by the City of 
Charlestown in laying out the line for and superintending 
the laying of a thirty-inch supply-pipe from the reservoir 
in Medford to the junction of Main and Cambridge 
streets in Charlestown. On April 18, 1873, he was 
appointed commissioner on the part of Charlestown for 
the care and maintenance of the Charles River and 
Warren bridges, holding the office until July 13, 1874, 
when the care of the same passed into the hands of the 



142 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

committee on bridges of the City of Boston. In the 
fall of 1874 he was appointed by the City of Boston 
inspector of the building of Congress Street Bridge, and 
later of several other bridges up to the year 1877, which 
closed his employment on public works. After that time 
he had no steady employment, and for the last six years 
of his life had wholly retired from business and was 
resting on his oars, gliding quietly down the stream. 

The aggregate time during which Mr. Rice was 
employed on public works was fifty years, and on other 
works fifteen years. His life of usefulness and uniform 
success was closed by his death on Sunday, December 2, 
1888, at the age of eighty-six years. 

December 8, 1888. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 143 



XXIV 
Dexter Row 

John F. Skinner — Henry P. Fairbanks — Shadrach Varney. 

JOHN F. SKINNER, as we have said in a former 
article, was a partner with his father and uncle in 
the old firm of Skinner & Hurd. He was after- 
wards one of the firm of Hurd, Hutchins & Skinner, 
who may be said to have continued the business of the 
old Charlestown house in their store on South Market 
Street, Boston. Mr. Skinner was one of the first res- 
idents in Dexter Row. 

William H. Skinner, another son of John Skinner, 
was a partner in the firm of Stanley, Reed & Co., whose 
place of business was on the corner of Main and Henley 
streets, where the building of the Warren Institution 
for Savings is now located. They did a large jobbing 
business here as grocers and dealers in country produce. 
Their store and the buildings connected with it extended 
from Main Street to Park Street, and for many years it 
was a place of great activity. When the business which 
had been done in Charlestown was diverted by the con- 
struction of railroads, the firm moved to Boston, and was 
as prominent there as it had been in Charlestown, for a 
decade or more longer. 

Another son of John Skinner, although dying when 
quite a young man, lived long enough to endear himself 



144 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



to a large circle of friends, any of whom now living will 
remember with pleasure the prepossessing and genial 
Benjamin Hurd Skinner, their former acquaintance and 
associate. His business life was much on the ocean as 
a supercargo, his discomfort from asthma being less at 
sea than on shore. 

Our respected townsman, George A. Skinner, is the 
only surviving son of the once prominent merchant I 
have endeavored to call back to memory. 

The well-known Dexter Row, a block of six brick 
houses, was built in 1836, on the Main Street front of 
the old Samuel Dexter estate, where it is still standing 
to testify to the thoroughness of its construction, its 
fine proportions, and so forth. A critical look at this 
block of buildings will show the rare good judgment 
exercised in its elevation or location upon the lot of 
land, and that great care was taken in the selection of 
materials and workmanship in its construction. Com- 
pared with first-class buildings of the present day, it is 
only a very plain block of brick houses, and yet it will 
bear careful scrutiny and be pronounced very creditable 
to the architect and builder of its time. 

The first occupants of these houses were Shadrach 
Varney, John F. Skinner, Henry P. Fairbanks, Daniel 
White, Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis. Among later residents 
were Nathan A. Tufts, Benjamin Thompson, Jacob 
Forster, John W. Damon, Isaac Kendall, Doctor Hayes, 
Doctor Beckford, Samuel Knight. Its character has 
been kept up to the present time, while its central 
location has attracted to it many of our best physicians, 
until it may almost be looked upon as the headquarters 
of the profession in this district. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 145 

Henry P. Fairbanks, whose wife was a daughter of 
John Skinner, lived in Charlestown for twenty years 
after his marriage. He was a member of the State 
Legislature in 1 847, as a representative from Charlestown, 
and of the Governor's Council in 1853. He was also a 
member of the City Government from its organization in 
1847 } ^^^ for five years previous to his death, in Feb- 
ruary, 1854, he was president of the Common Council. 
At the time of his death he was president of the Charles- 
town Lyceum, an institution in which he took a deep 
interest. His social and domestic virtues were very 
marked. A generous friend and a noble -hearted man, 
it is doubtful if any resident of the town ever enjoyed 
more fully the confidence of his fellow-citizens. A Whig 
in politics, he was prominent in his party and an earnest, 
active worker for it, aiming always at success, and yet 
was so honorable and fair to his opponents that their 
respect for him and their admiration for his character 
were never lost. Ever ready to help, but never to 
injure, his hand was open and his heart in sympathy 
with every good movement, and he was uninfluenced 
by prejudice or narrowness in deciding how he should 
act. 

Mr. Fairbanks' place of business was in Boston, where 
he stood high as a merchant, but he had made his home 
in Charlestown, and he was as mindful of the reputation 
of the old town as if he had been to the manor born. 
The town never suffered detraction from him, but gained 
much in his citizenship and from the energy, activity, 
and interest which he manifested in its affairs. A keen 
sense of great loss to the community was felt at his 
sudden death from scarlet fever when he was only forty- 



146 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

five years old. Charles F. Fairbanks, treasurer of the 
Bigelow Carpet Company, is his son. 

Shadrach Varney was for many years the manager of 
the smith's department in the Navy Yard, or the master- 
blacksmith, as he was called. After he left the Navy 
Yard he was interested in real-estate operations, — 
among others, the purchase of the land and building of 
the Dexter Row block, of which he had the superintend- 
ence. He was a fine-looking man, and in his early days 
was one of the captains of the old Charlestown Light 
Infantry. He took command for the first time, June 17, 
1825, — the day of the laying of the corner-stone of the 
Bunker Hill Monument, — when the company paraded 
in a new uniform and was presented with an artistic 
standard by Miss Judith Delano in behalf of many ladies, 
from the steps of her home, the large wooden house 
still standing on the corner of Austin and Lawrence 
streets. 

January 5, 1889. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 147 



XXV 

Dexter Row — Harvard Church 

Benjamin Thompson — James Walker, D. D. — George E. 
Ellis, D. D. 

IN the previous chapter I mentioned who were the 
residents of Dexter Row for some years after it was 
built, among them being Benjamin Thompson, who as 
an active business man has been alluded to in another 
connection. Mr. Thompson was much in public life and 
filled many important offices in the old town government. 
He was for a long time a member of the school board, 
and many of its reports were written by him and bear 
his signature as secretary. He was in the Legislature of 
the State as a representative from Charlestown in 1830, 
'31* '33j ^^^ 'S^y 3-^d as senator in 1841 ; and a repre- 
sentative in the Congress of the United States two 
terms, i845-'47 and 1851-52. His death occurred 
during this last term. He was for three years president 
of the Warren Institution for Savings, for several years 
president of the Charlestown Lyceum, and for a long 
period an efficient member and official in the First Uni- 
versaHst Society. The correspondence of that society 
contains many very interesting letters written by him 
and copied in his own handwriting in the records, as the 
clerk of the society. Later in life he was a member of 
the Harvard Unitarian Society. On the occasion of a 



148 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

citizens' celebration on the Fourth of July in 183 1, he 
was selected as the orator and delivered the oration in 
the Unitarian Church ; and at the request of the City 
Council, on the death of President Zachary Taylor, he 
prepared and delivered the eulogy in the Winthrop 
Church, July 31, 1850. 

He had many friends, and his characteristics were such 
as attracted those who came in contact with him and won 
their regard and confidence. He enjoyed the society of 
his friends and was generous in his entertainment of 
them. While he was in the Legislature and was living 
on the corner of Main and Thompson streets, in the old 
homestead of his father and his own birthplace, he gave 
his constituents frequent opportunities to meet men of 
mark who were his associates at the State House and 
who were appreciative recipients of Charlestown hos- 
pitality. Such men as Daniel P. King, Julius Rockwell, 
Charles Hudson, afterwards his colleagues in Congress, 
and O. W. B. Peabody, are remembered as among his 
visitors and intimate friends, and the higher officials of 
the time were acquainted with his home as a place of 
enjoyment and refinement. He graced the office of 
president of the Lyceum by a happy manner of intro- 
ducing the lecturers and by many pleasant social entertain- 
ments at his home after the close of the lectures. He 
purchased the house in Dexter Row in 1843, rnoved into 
it soon after, and remained there until his death. Over 
his grave in the cemetery at Mount Auburn is a marble 
monument, and on its face the following inscription 
written by one who knew him perfectly. It tells the 
story of his life without exaggeration, in the simplest 
form of truth : 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 149 

In Memory of 

BENJAMIN THOMPSON 

of 
Charlestown, Massachusetts. 

Born, August 5, 1798. 
Died, September 24, 1852. 

He possessed the entire confidence and respect of his 
fellow-citizens. Was honored with many places of official 
trust, and at the time of his death was a Representative 
in the Congress of the United States. His amenity and 
integrity, mature judgment, and devotion to duty gave 
dignity to his public station. The strength of his love 
for home and kindred made him the idol of his family. 
The sincerity of his friendship, the purity of his con- 
versation, and the charm of his companionship endeared 
him to all and made his private life the scene of his 
chief enjoyment and of the most delightful manifestation 
of his character. 

SACRED BE THE MEMORY OF HIS LIFE AND VIRTUES. 

Mr. Thompson's daughter and only child is the wife 
of John W. Frothingham, the head of the well-known 
firm of Frothingham, Baylis & Co., of New York, dealers 
in cotton duck and similar fabrics. He will be remem- 
bered here as for some years the confidential clerk in 
the office of Benjamin Thompson & Co. Able, unselfish, 
thoughtful, truthful, his character is, in the judgment of 
the writer, as free from defects as that of any man he 
ever knew. 

Near to Dexter Row stands the old Second Congre- 
gational Church, the Harvard Unitarian Church of 
to-day. It is a very plain brick structure, but its spire 
is beautiful in its proportions, and the deep, rich tones of 
the bell that hangs in it are worthy of special remark. 



ISO 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



But everything connected with this church and the 
society owning and occupying it can be learned from the 
very excellent history by Henry H. Edes, admirably com- 
piled, beautifully printed, and published in 1879. 

I mention this church in this connection because I 
desire to say something about two of its former pastors 
as residents and citizens, each of them for a long term 
of years — Rev. Dr. James Walker, who lived here from 
18 18 to 1839, and Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis, from 1840 
to 1869. The latter dwelt in the Dexter Row block 
during all his stay here. 

Rev. Dr. Walker resigned the pastorate of the Har- 
vard Church, and left Charlestown to become a professor 
in Harvard College, and was afterwards president of that 
institution. He was a profound thinker and a very dis- 
tinguished man. His ability and wisdom were acknowl- 
edged in early life, and the character and intelligence of 
the society over which he was settled can be determined 
by the fact that he accepted the call to be their pastor 
and continued with them for twenty-one years. It 
speaks well for the old town, too, that a man of his high 
standing and character was one of its citizens for so long 
a period, and that his presence and influence make a part 
of its history during that time. He was interested in its 
affairs, especially in its schools, on his visits to which as 
a member of the school committee he became interested 
in the pupils, some of whom through his guidance were 
started in a path that led to eminence. 

Professor Joseph Lovering was one of these pupils. 
His entrance to Harvard College was suggested, encour- 
aged, and determined by Doctor Walker. Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Osgood was another of the old Town Hill 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 151 

schoolboys for whom the path of learning was made 
attractive by the same friendly guide. 

In 1840 Dr. George E. Ellis accepted an invitation to 
settle over the society which had been for twenty-one 
years under the ministry of Doctor Walker. He was 
ordained on Wednesday, March 11, of that year, and 
remained with the society until February 22, 1869, 2. 
period of twenty -nine years. Taken together their con- 
nection with the Unitarian Society covers a period of 
over half a century marked by uninterrupted harmony 
and prosperity. But all this is fully told in the history 
of the Harvard Church before referred to. 

The fame of Doctor Ellis as a distinguished scholar 
and eminent man rests on solid foundations, and we can- 
not, without presumption, do more than refer to it. But 
a grateful remembrance of the value of the life he chose 
to live in Charlestown must certainly be in order, and 
the expression of it allowable to those of us who shared 
in its good influence. It is pleasant to remember his 
morning call at the book-store, and his more extended 
afternoon walk about the town, for no resident in it was 
ever better acquainted with every nook and comer of its 
territory or showed more interest in its people, from the 
highest to the lowest, than did Doctor Ellis. Nobody 
was more generally known than he, and conversation 
with him was always helpful and cheering. How much 
real Christian work was done in this way, none of us may 
tell ; but it requires only a slight knowledge of human 
nature to conclude that his ministries of this kind 
resulted in great benefit to the community. 

He was interested in the welfare of the town, and was 
ready to serve it on all important occasions and to be 



152 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

present at public meetings to address his fellow-citizens 
and act with them on matters of moment. The number 
of these addresses made by him, during the long period 
of his residence here, must be very large. He took 
especial interest in the schools, and served for many 
years on the school committee. His visits to the school- 
rooms were frequent, and his excellent advice was 
received by teachers and pupils with close attention and 
great confidence, as coming from one fully qualified, who 
could be looked up to as a man of learning and of 
experience as a student. The schools were improved, 
while he was a member of the committee, by the adop- 
tion of recommendations made by him, many of which, 
with remarks on the general subject of education, appear 
in the printed annual reports. His addresses at the 
dedication of new school-houses were timely, suggestive, 
and interesting. His congratulations on the acquisition 
of new and convenient structures were full, but he did 
not forget to impress upon the minds of his hearers the 
increased obligations imposed upon those who were to 
use them to be faithful to their duties in advancing the 
cause of common school education. 

His influence upon the old town and city was very 
great, and some of her citizens, under personal obliga- 
tions for kind attention and assistance in times past, are 
grateful for an opportunity to show their appreciation 
of it. 

February 9, 1889. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 153 



XXVI 
The Forsters 

The Old Furniture-Store — Jacob Forster and Forster, Lawrence 
& Co. 

JACOB FORSTER was another resident in the 
Dexter Row block. He was born in Charlestown, 
June 7, 1803, and dwelt here all his life, just one 
month over fifty-four years. He was a son of Jacob 
Forster, a native of Berwick, Maine, who, after serving 
an apprenticeship in Watertown, Massachusetts, took up 
his residence in Charlestown, October, 1786, and re- 
mained here for more than half a century, until his 
death, September 2, 1838. 

Jacob Forster, the younger, was in early life a partner 
with George Thompson, under the style of Forster & 
Thompson. They were commission merchants, having 
their place of business on Long Wharf, Boston, where 
Mr. Forster continued for many years after the dissolu- 
tion of the firm. He was much interested in railroads, 
and had a good deal to do with the building and direction 
of the Fitchburg, Cheshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, 
and that line of roads. He was president of the Fitch- 
burg road for some years ; a successful as well as enter- 
prising man of his time ; of fine personal appearance, 
genial, fond of a joke, and pleasant to meet socially. I 
have referred to him in a former article as a son-in-law 



154 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of Nathan Webb, and to his estimable wife, now living 
with her son. Dr. Edward J. Forster. The doctor's own 
business career was commenced in Dexter Row, and his 
sign as a doctor of medicine first appeared on the wall of 
his father's old homestead. 

Old Jacob Forster, as the grandfather of the doctor 
was called, purchased of John Harris, in 1793, the lot of 
land on the west corner of Main and Union streets, on 
which he erected the large wooden building now standing 
there, which has been used in part as a furniture-store 
ever since. His own calling was that of a cabinet-maker, 
and he originated and established here the business after- 
wards successfully carried on by his son, Charles Forster, 
and Edward Lawrence, under the style of Forster & 
Lawrence, and, when Abraham Crowninshield was joined, 
Forster, Lawrence & Co. Mr. Forster occupied the rear 
of the premises and a portion of the front building as a 
home for his family and his apprentices, and under the 
roof of this old mansion a good many young men were 
made contented and comfortable who afterwards became 
prominent among the furniture-dealers in Boston. 

The old gentleman was peculiar, and many stories 
have been told of his eccentricities. If he covered the 
roof of one of his buildings with hides having the hair 
on, he did it because he was sure that they would there 
shed the rain as effectually as on the cow's back ; but he 
made no calculation for the effect of sunshine upon hides 
so applied, and did not anticipate the annoyance it proved 
to be to his neighbors as well as to himself. He was 
fond of experiments, and tried one with pure India-rubber 
in the early days of its use. He was fire warden, and 
was sure that rubber would be much better than leather 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 155 

for hose. He caused a length of it to be made and 
attached to one of the engines, for trial, but he made no 
allowance for the elasticity of the gum, and was amazed 
to see it rapidly taking the shape and showing the power 
of a large balloon, much to the amusement of the 
bystanders, and of the engine-men who were over- 
anxious for a fair trial and correspondingly deaf to the 
order to hold on at the brakes. But notwithstanding 
these amusing oversights in some of his experiences, old 
Mr. Jacob Forster was an enterprising and successful 
business man, and a very valuable citizen in the old 
town.* 

At one time one of the rooms of the second story of 
the old building here referred to was occupied as a law- 
yer's office, and another as a school-room for a private 
school, kept by Miss Wales. The writer remembers 



* Since the above was written, I have received the following interest- 
ing note from Doctor Forster : 

" Many thanks for the newspapers, especially the last. I think grandpa 
bought the Town Hall, with a chamber over it, and added the rest of the 
old wooden mansion. The hall was our old parlor. There was a win- 
dow on the side where the sofa was, and mother used to say that sitting 
at it she could see Major Walker's house, nothing then obstructing the 
view. I knew about the rubber-hose experiment, but did not know of 
the balloon result. I only knew it was a failure. I have heard from the 
late Honorable Edward Lawrence, who was an apprentice with Mr, 
Forster, many stories besides those related by you, one of which was 
that, the floor of the oven being made from an old grave-stone, some of 
the preparations of bread bore the reverse of the legend, ' Sacred to the 
Memory of .' " 

The letter from Doctor Forster adds that " his * shingle ' first appeared 
on one of the columns of the Waverley House entrance, and then at 
12 Thompson Street, before reaching the 'wall of his father's old 
homestead.' " 



156 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

that the first time he ever heard the music of a full band 
was while standing at one of the windows of this school- 
room. The Harvard College military company was 
marching down Main Street, preceded by the Boston 
Brigade Band. Possibly it may have been the Green 
Dragon Band, an earlier musical organization, but he has 
good reason to believe that it was the Brigade Band and 
that this was its first appearance in the streets of 
Charlestown. This famous band had formerly a number 
of Charlestown men among its members. Abel and 
Thomas Knight, Isaac and James Delano, and Francis 
Raymond are remembered. The Delanoes were es- 
pecially fine musicians, and Abel Knight was for many 
years leader of the band. 

The furniture-business in Charlestown, as carried on 
by Jacob Forster, Charles Forster, and Forster, Law- 
rence & Co., was important. They had large shops 
further up the street, on the opposite side of Union 
Street, and held contracts with the State for the employ- 
ment of many of the convicts at the prison. Their 
wholesale trade was extensive, their orders coming from 
all parts of the country, while the " best room " in almost 
every house in the town was made attractive by tasteful 
and thoroughly made chairs, sofas, and tables purchased 
at the old corner store. Even at the present day atten- 
tion is sometimes called to articles of furniture made by 
them and still in use, which were parts of the original 
outfit of those who have passed the golden limits of 
their wedding-days. 

The counting-room of the firm was a place worthy of 
remembrance. It was the frequent calling-place of many 
excellent people. The discussions that took place there. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 157 

and the jokes that passed, would make an interesting 
chapter of town history. Clergymen as well as laymen 
contributed to make them interesting. 

Charles Forster was a warm-hearted, benevolent man 
who sympathized with the poor and unfortunate and was 
always ready to befriend and assist them. He was quite 
generally known to be such a man ; and the calls upon 
him for help were incessant. But he met them with 
patience and a ready hand, and was troubled only by his 
inability to do more. It has been said that he was some- 
times imposed upon, and no doubt this is true, but the 
prompting of his nature was to look charitably upon his 
fellow-men, and he could not shut up his heart, if he 
would. It is easy to understand why the calls at the old 
counting-room, from a class of needy people who had 
found out the character of its occupants, were so 
numerous, and it is a fair supposition, perhaps, that the 
callers of the other class, the scholars and friends before 
referred to, were helped in the study of human nature 
by what they must have observed of its darker side in 
these applicants for encouragement and assistance. 

Mr. Forster served the town on the board of overseers 
of the poor, and on the school committee, for many 
years, and represented it in the Legislature in 1835. He 
resided for some time on Winter Hill, in Somerville, and 
took great interest in the schools of that place. The 
Forster Schoolhouse, in Somerville, was named in honor 
of him. He returned to Charlestown, to his old home 
in Cordis Street, some years before his death, which 
took place September i, 1866, when he was a few 
months over sixty-eight years old. 

On the opposite corner of Main and Union streets was 



158 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

the estate of Catherine Bradish. The Bradish family 
was an old one in the town, and this property was in- 
herited by Miss Bradish from her mother. The house 
was of wood, painted yellow. It stood back from Main 
Street, and was surrounded by a garden, in which were 
trees, — Lombardy poplar and balm-of-Gilead among 
others. 

Just beyond this house, back from the street, on an 
unfenced lot, was the little shop of Abijah Monroe, gun- 
smith. His assistant was Moses Babcock, who for many 
years after it was given up by Monroe continued the 
business in a shop in Charlestown Square, until he went 
into the employ of the Davidson Rubber Co., with which 
company he continued until his death, at his home on 
Cordis Street, August 27, 1886. The rubber bulb 
syringe, the invention of Charles H. Davidson, was per- 
fected in Mr. Babcock's shop, and its success was the 
starting-point of the large manufacturing establishment 
which bears his name. Monroe's shop was a place where 
excellent work was done in the regular line of business, 
and it was also one of the places where political questions 
were freely discussed by many of the town's people who 
were accustomed to assemble there. Mr. Monroe held 
the office of selectman for some years, and he was in the 
Legislature in 1837. 

In this year, 1837, the Bradish estate, including the 
gunsmith's shop, was sold to Henry and Jacob Forster 
and Edward Lawrence, who cleared away the old build- 
ings and erected the brick block which still stands on 
the corner of Main and Union streets. It was called 
for some years the " Union Block. " The owners of 
the houses moved into them in 1838, and Jacob Forster 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 159 

remained there until he purchased the Dexter Row 
house ; Mr. Lawrence until he built and moved into the 
house on High Street in 185 i, and Henry Forster until 
his death, January 12, 1855. Jacob Forster's house was 
soon sold to Dr. Henry Lyon, the Lawrence house to 
Edward Riddle, and Henry Forster's to Dr. William 
Mason. The last two persons died there. Doctor 
Lyon, after the death of Dr. Luther V. Bell, purchased 
the house that had been built and occupied by Doctor 
Bell on Monument Square, where Doctor Lyon now re- 
sides. 

Henry Forster was a merchant doing business with 
Pernambuco, South America, at which place he resided 
many years, and where he founded the well-known 
house of Henry Forster & Co. After his return he 
was interested in town affairs and was a represent- 
ative in the Legislature in 1841 and a member of 
the City Council in 1848. His three sons were grad- 
uates of Harvard College. George H. went to New 
York and became distinguished as a lawyer. He was a 
member of the law-firm of Weeks 8z Forster. He took 
an interest in politics and was State senator and chair- 
man of the Board of Aldermen in the city of New York. 
He had just been re-elected to the latter office when he 
died, November 8, 1888. His brother, Frederick P., is a 
lawyer in the same office in New York. Horace resides 
in Pernambuco, a partner in the old business house there. 

January 23, 1889. 



i6o OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXVII 

The Tufts Family 

Tufts College — An Interesting Statement in regard to Other 
Colleges also founded by and named for Former Residents 
of Charlestown — How did the Town of Maiden get its 
Name ? 

NATHAN A. TUFTS was an occupant for several 
years of one of the houses in the Dexter Row- 
block. He afterwards removed to a house on 
Union Street, where he died November 20, 1873, aged 
seventy-four years. This was one of a block of swell- 
front brick houses built by his brother Samuel, his 
brother-in-law. Deacon Eliab P. Mackintire, and Samuel 
Raymond, on the site of the first Winthrop Church, 
which was taken down after the removal of the society 
to its new church in Green Street and its dedication in 
March, 1849. The block is still standing on the left 
hand side of Union Street, near Washington Street. 

Mr. Tufts stood high with the community in which he 
lived. He was an upright man, honest in thought and 
deed. Fair in his judgment of his fellow-men, he was 
judged by them in the same spirit, and was looked upon 
with great confidence and respect. He took much inter- 
est in the affairs of the town, and was ready to comply 
with the often expressed wish of his fellow-citizens that 
he should serve them in public offices. Frequently a 
member of the school committee, he was efficient and 



OLD CHARLESTOWN i6i 

prompt in attention to its duties. As a member fog 
some years of the Board of Aldermen, he reflected honoi> 
upon the city by his dignity of manner, Uberal views, and 
excellent judgment. 

He was a leading member of the Winthrop Society 
and Church from the time of its organization until his 
death. Much of his business life was spent in the 
employ of the owners and managers of some of the 
Lowell manufacturing corporations as their confidential 
clerk. He accumulated a handsome competency and 
retired early from active business. He was president of 
the Warren Institution for Savings from 1850 to 1855, 
when he resigned on account of his poor health and 
spent some time with his family in the South ; but he 
continued as one of its vice-presidents, and on his return 
was elected a member of the investment committee and 
held this office as long as he lived. The present officers 
of the institution remember him with high regard, and 
do not forget his influence in shaping a policy which 
secured to the bank the confidence of its depositors and 
made it a successful institution. 

The Tufts family trace their ancestry back to Peter 
Tufts, who was born in England in 16 17 and came to 
Charlestown about 1638. He settled in that part of the 
town which was set off in 1648 as the town of Maiden. 
He emigrated to this country from Maiden in the county 
of Essex, England. Between this Maiden and Little 
Baddow there was a place, or villa, called Tuftes. It 
has been conjectured that the new town set off from 
Charlestown received its name Maiden through the 
influence of Peter Tufts, who was one of the largest 
landholders within its limits. He died May 13, 1700, 



i62 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

and was buried in the old Maiden burial-ground, as a 
costly grave-stone, cut in England, in good preservation 
in 1826 and very likely to this day, clearly showed. At 
the time of his death he had a large estate in lands, 
situated in Maiden and Medford, which were held by his 
descendants for a very long period after. Among these 
descendants and the connections of the family by 
marriage, many eminent and noteworthy persons can 
be found. 

Peter Tufts, one of the grandsons of the original 
settler, lived in Charlestown on what, was formerly 
known as the Milk-row road. He was a carpenter by 
trade, but spent the greater part of his life in farming. 
He owned a very large tract of land, and leased farms 
to his sons when they were married and set up for them- 
selves ; and it has been said that he was considered by 
them, and especially by their wives, to be a very hard 
landlord. The reason given for this by one of his great- 
grandchildren was that he intended by this sharpness to 
keep them in a course of industry, sobriety, and econ- 
omy, habits which he himself had received from his 
father and grandfather. 

One of the sons of this Peter was Nathan Tufts, by 
trade a cordwainer, but chiefly occupied as a farmer in 
Medford. He was the father of Daniel, Deacon Amos, 
and Nathan Tufts, who for the greater part of their 
lives were prominent citizens of the old town and among 
its leading business men. Daniel's residence was outside 
of the Neck. He was a brick-maker and farmer. He 
represented the town in the Legislature of 1 8 1 1 and 
1 8 12, as a member of the House of Representatives. 
His sons were Daniel, junior, Gilbert, Charles, and 
Nathan. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 163 

Daniel, junior, and Gilbert were tanners. Their 
tanneries and residences were within the peninsula. 
Daniel was a member of the Legislature from Charles- 
town in 1830, '32, and '33. He did considerable business 
for many years, but in advanced life he became very 
timid or over-cautious and so fell behind the times. He 
had a stock of sole-leather in the vats of his tannery on 
Main Street which remained there unsold for years. 
When a purchaser was ready to meet the price he had 
been asking, it was always time to advance, and he didn't 
live long enough to receive an offer he could accept. 
A kiln of bricks made for and belonging to him remained 
unsold until, in the accumulation of dust upon it, a willow- 
tree took root and grew up to its full size, an object for 
curious observation and remark. 

Gilbert Tufts was an able and successful business man. 
I have referred to him in a former article. 

Nathan Tufts was a brick-maker and farmer living 
outside the Neck, just beyond the Lowell Railroad bridge 
which crosses Cambridge Street in Somerville. He was 
at one time a tanner. He was a correct and thrifty busi- 
ness man, a member of the Harvard Unitarian Society, 
and was constant in his attendance at that church. He 
was the father of the late Nathan Tufts, the grain-dealer 
whose place of business was on Warren Avenue, and 
who was accidentally killed by being crushed between 
a vessel and a belay-post on his wharf, October 20, 
1887. Mr. Tufts, senior, like all his family, lived to 
a ripe old age, his death occurring August i, 1872, 
when he was eighty-six years old. His father was 
eighty-five at the time of his death ; his brother Daniel, 
ninety-two. Gilbert died July 7, 1850, aged seventy- 



i64 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

two; and Charles, December 24, 1876, aged ninety- 
five. 

Charles Tufts was a farmer and brick-maker, and a 
large land-owner in that part of Charlestown set off as 
Somerville when it was made a separate town. He was 
a member of the First Universalist Society, and for 
many years his horse and carriage could be seen every 
Sunday in one of the sheds which formerly stood in the 
churchyard of that society, while, with his wife (he had 
no children), he was occupying his pew in the church. 
Both Mr. Tufts and his wife took great interest in the 
Universalist denomination, and he is widely known for 
his gift of Walnut Hill (now College Hill), and a large 
tract of land about it, to Tufts College. By this act he 
became the founder of that institution, which was named 
in his honor, and which was helped greatly in its progress 
to prominence by the generosity of another native of 
Charlestown, the late Dr. William J. Walker, who before 
his death and by bequest contributed $250,000 to its 
funds. 

Here, perhaps, is a good opportunity to refer to a fact 
which the good people of old Charlestown have a right 
to be proud of. Five of the colleges in the land have 
been founded by and named for citizens of Charlestown : 
Harvard, in Cambridge, by John Harvard ; Tufts, in 
Somerville and Medford, by Charles Tufts ; Doane, in 
Crete, Nebraska, by Thomas Doane ; Colby, in Water- 
ville, Maine, by Gardner Colby ; Carleton, in Northfield, 
Minnesota, by William Carleton. It will be well to refer 
to this again, as it is a fact that can hardly be paralleled 
by any other town. 

March 16, 1889. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 165 



XXVIII 

The Tufts Family (^continued) 

Deacon Amos Tufts — Joseph F. Tufts — Eliab P. Mackintire — 
Nathan Tufts — A Famous Law-suit. 



IN the previous chapter I referred to the three brothers, 
Daniel, Deacon Amos, and Nathan Tufts, as impor- 
tant persons in the old town history, and Daniel and 
his descendants were especially spoken of. 

Deacon Amos Tufts lived on the corner of Main and 
Bow streets, in a house built about 1800. The lot of 
land on which it stood was formerly a part of the estate 
of Isaiah Edes, who sold it to N. Trask, and he to Amos 
Tufts in 1796. The house was of wood, oblong-square 
in shape, one end on Main Street, the broadside on Bow 
Street, with the front door in the center looking directly 
up Middlegate Street and Town Hill, or Prescott and 
Harvard streets of the present day. It was a pleasantly 
situated, sunny, well-built house, an inviting - looking 
dwelling-place to passers-by. It was occupied by the 
deacon until his death, November 26, 1839, when he 
was seventy-seven years old. 

Deacon Tufts may be spoken of as, for some years, 
the prominent man in the First Church ; and he was 
recognized as one of the reliable Christians of the day. 
He was inclined to cling closely to old opinions and to 
be jealous of all proposed changes, but he was a faithful 



i66 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

sentinel in the cause which he had espoused. He was 
an exemplary and much respected citizen. He carried 
on an extensive business, for his time, as a blacksmith. 
His shop was in the rear of his house on Main Street, 
and the area between the two buildings was always a 
scene of industry. The shop was a brick building, three 
stories high, erected with the view of alteration at some 
time into a dwelling-house, which was afterwards done. 
The same building, now standing on the corner of 
Devens and Main streets, is the present residence of 
Dr. J. S. Whiting, The homestead which formerly 
stood in front of it was taken down when Bow Street 
was widened. 

Joseph F. Tufts, the eldest son of the deacon, was 
the father of the present treasurer of the Warren Insti- 
tution for Savings — a position which he himself filled 
for several years. Joseph was a man of much ability, a 
very systematic and excellent business man, and he held 
many important trusts. He was employed early in life 
by his uncle, Nathan Tufts, in his business of tanning, 
and he afterwards carried on an extensive business as a 
partner with Gilbert Tufts in a tannery on Main Street, 
near the Neck. He was interested in the schools of the 
town, and was for some years a member of the school 
committee. He was also an active and leading member 
of the Winthrop Church and Society. 

One of the daughters of Deacon Amos Tufts was the 
wife of a very prominent citizen and business man. 
Deacon Eliab P. Mackintire — another of the original 
and most efficient members of the Winthrop Church. 
He did an extensive jobbing and retail business in dry 
goods for many years, in Charlestown, and was after- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 167 

wards an importer of Scotch goods, in Boston, in the 
firm of Mackintire, Laurie & Co. Several of the 
printed school reports bear his name as chairman of the 
committee, and he was interested in all the benevolent 
work of his day. He will be remembered for his marked 
piety and great excellence of character. He was a 
member of the Legislature, from Charlestown, in 1835 
and 1859. 

Nathan Tufts, the brother of Deacon Amos, was a 
noted man in the old town. He was very enterprising 
and energetic as a business man, and the evidences of 
his ability and usefulness can still be pointed out. He 
was originally a butcher, and did a large business in 
packing beef. He was also a tanner, widely known by 
the superior quality of the sole-leather manufactured by 
him, the popularity of which, for many years, gave a 
good reputation to the town as well as to himself. Mr. 
Tufts had also a wharf, where he dealt in wood and 
lumber; and a grist-mill made a part of his establish- 
ment. His tannery and wharf were on the Mystic-river 
side of the town, and a good many of the town's people 
found steady employment there. Besides this, he built 
the Mill-pond at the Neck, and was connected with Abel 
Fitz in the grain and meal business there. He also 
started a new tannery there, and carried it on as long as 
he lived. It was afterwards sold to Chester Guild & 
Sons, whose extensive business at this tannery will be 
remembered by a great many of the present residents of 
the town. " Hacker " Tufts, for he had this nickname 
which lasted as long as he lived, was the owner of several 
farms outside the Neck and in Medford, and spent much 
time in their improvement. He made his rounds to his 



i68 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

many business places on horse-back, and was a well- 
known figure, as an equestrian, in Boston and the neigh- 
boring towns as well as in Chariest own. He was one of 
the first board of directors of the Bunker Hill Bank, and 
did as much as any other person in securing the original 
subscription to its capital stock. He was an early 
advocate of free bridges and one of the incorporators of 
Warren Bridge. He was one of the founders of the 
Harvard Unitarian Society, and his coach was seen at 
the door of the church every Sunday morning and after- 
noon, as he was a regular attendant at its services. His 
turnout was the most stylish in town, and there are 
others besides myself, I doubt not, who remember the 
beautiful pair of cream-colored mares with milk-white 
manes and tails as making a part of it for several years. 
Mr. Tufts lived in the house on Chelsea Street, since 
known so long as the home of Doctor Lambert. The 
house was built and occupied at first by Aaron Putnam, 
who has been mentioned before. I must try to describe 
this homestead in another article. 

Nathan Tufts died in October, 1835, aged seventy-one 
years. At this time, and for many years previous, Peter 
Sanborn was his coachman, and in the settlement of the 
estate Sanborn became an unexpected claimant. Mr. 
Tufts had no children, and by his will, after provision 
for his wife, — and a few bequests, among them $1000 
to the Bunker Hill Monument Association, — the bulk 
of his property was given to his nephews and nieces, the 
children of his brothers, Daniel and Deacon Amos. On 
the 18th of September, 1837, a writ to attach the goods 
and estate, late of Nathan Tufts, was served on Josiah 
P. Cook, executor, with an order to appear on the first 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 169 

Tuesday in October in the Court of Common Pleas. 
The case was afterwards appealed to the Supreme Court, 
on ruling of law holding defendants' plea good. The 
declaration set forth that Nathan Tufts, on October 17, 
1835, made his promissory note to plaintiff, Peter San- 
born, for ^5000, with interest till paid; also, that said 
Tufts, in consideration that said Sanborn would serve 
him faithfully during said Tufts* life, promised on January 
I, 1833, to pay him $370 yearly and build him a dwelling- 
house convenient for Sanborn, his wife, and family, upon 
half an acre of land between Tufts' stable and Ebenezer 
Breed's garden, and would convey same to said Sanborn 
by warranty deed, and would pay Sanborn ^50 yearly 
until same was completed. Samuel Hoar and Augustus 
Peabody appeared for defendants ; Rufus Choate for 
plaintiff. 

Mary Tufts, the widow of Nathan, testified that she 
believed the signatures to the note and contract to be 
genuine. The verdict at the November term, 1837, 
was as follows : 

First, Jury find signatures on note and contract to be 
genuine. 

Second, They allow balance of accounts for money 
expended on Tufts accounts, $1230.30. 

Third, They allow the lot of land as claimed in the 
writ. 

Fourth, They allow plaintiff $1500 for building house 
on said land. 

Fifth, They allow plaintiff the note for $5000. 

Sixth, They allow plaintiff the $370 per year from 
April I, 1836. 

(Signed) Ezra Eaton, Foreman. 

They assess damages at $9686.22. 



I70 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

January 12, 1838, a motion was filed for a new trial, 
which was granted and the verdict set aside. At the 
term of the Court, November, 1838, the jury disagreed. 
At the November term, 1839, a compromise having been 
agreed upon, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff for 
^6000, and execution January, 1840. A great deal of 
interest had been manifested in the trials of the case, 
and the court-room was filled with Chariest own people 
while they were going on. The claim was resisted under 
the belief that the note and agreement were not genuine, 
but the testimony of the widow was in favor of the 
claim, and the settlement was thought to be a wise one 
on the part of the defendants. 

Peter Sanborn lived in Charlestown until his death. 
He was the brother of John Sanborn, who also had been 
employed by Mr. Tufts, as a tanner, and who afterwards 
was in the coal and wood business, a part of the time as 
partner with Peter. Later in his life John Sanborn was 
wharfinger for the Tudor Company. He was much in 
public life, a member of the school committee for many 
years, and his seat at the board was never vacant. He 
was a member of the Legislature in 1843. As a 
politician he was shrewd and successful — a power to be 
estimated in calculating the result of elections in the 
town, for " Uncle John " in all his movements was pretty 
sure to land on his feet. 

May 4, 1889. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 171 



XXIX 

Some Fine Old Estates 

Retrospective Glances at the Homes of Former Citizens — Nathan 
Tufts — Ebenezer Breed — Nathan Adams. 



THE homestead of Nathan Tufts, as it appeared in 
my boyhood, was in a fine locality. Let us see if 
we can get any idea of how things looked here 
when that enterprising man was about with his gangs of 
workmen improving and beautifying everything which 
stood within the lines of an estate which he was proud 
to point to as his residence. 

Suppose, then, in imagination, we clear away from the 
rising land on the upper side of Chelsea and Adams 
streets — between Doctor Lambert's house and Chestnut 
Street — all the buildings save the Tufts house and 
stable, the Devens house on Chelsea Street, the Breed 
house (at present the residence of Charles F. Smith) on 
Mt. Vernon Street, and the Kettell house on Chestnut 
Street, leaving these buildings surrounded by green fields 
stretching away as far as the eye can see. In place of 
Chestnut Street is the driveway to the Adams (Kettell) 
house, stopping at the gateway leading to the side door. 
The entrance to Mt. Vernon Street marks the line of 
the carriage-way to the Breed house. Prospect Street 
was then but the roadway up to the Tufts house and 



172 OLD CHARLESTOWN 1 

stable. Adams Street, running from the training-field, 
and the Salem Turnpike (Chelsea Street) made the same 
junction as now at the point of the heater-shaped piece 
of land lying between them and Shippey (Chestnut) 
Street ; but this piece of land, now covered with brick 
buildings, had on it then only one wooden house, known | 
as the Townsend house, which stood on the corner of 
Shippey and Adams streets, surrounded with horse- 
chestnut trees. All the rest of the land was fenced and 
used as a garden, with nothing on it to obstruct the view 
from the estates we are trying to describe. 

The Tufts (Doctor Lambert's) house, with its stable 
in the rear and the grounds in front, still presents the 
same appearance as of old. It has been neglected for 
some years, and suffered to grow dingy for want of 
paint — the stable especially has become dilapidated and 
unsightly ; but its former occupant, if alive, could in a 
few weeks, with his energetic direction, brush away the j 
effect of neglect and restore the beauty and attractive- 
ness which properly belong to the old mansion. | 

The interior of this old mansion is imposing, and an 
impression is at once left on the mind, as you pass 
through it, that it was planned and built for a person of 
consequence. The four large rooms on the lower story 
of the main house, and the long entry with the fine 
stairway branching off on two sides at the end of it ; the 
recessed windows in the rooms and their style of finish — 
some of them arched, with keystones in masonic order ; 
everything, indeed, in the interior as well as about the 
exterior, indicates thrift and breadth of mind as belonging 
to the owner and designer of the premises. The round 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 173 

>orch at the front door, resting on two columns, with an 
V arrangement of the steps, is unique and tasteful, 

.d the view from this door and from the chamber 
windows, taking in the Navy Yard, the harbor, the State 
House, and the elevated part of Boston, is extensive and 
pleasing. The terraced lawn in front of the house, 
always in order ; the stable behind the house, with its 
arched doorways and carriage-sheds ; the fruit and 
vegetable garden behind that, and the well-fenced fields 
for horses and cows, were all such as would gratify the 
ambition of an enterprising and successful business man 
and add to the attractiveness of the town of which he 
was a citizen. 

The Breed house was of brick, standing not quite so 
far back from the street, but with a front lawn and 
surroundings much the same as the other estates. 
Opposite the dwelling-house, on the other side of the 
roadway, was a greenhouse of very considerable propor- 
tions, in which were grown grapes, peaches, apricots, and 
the most admired tender plants and flowers of the day. 
Outside the greenhouse, on the front part of the estate, 
hardy trees, shrubs, and flowers were tastefully arranged, 
and cultivated with interest and care. The rear of the 
estate, in addition to convenient stable arrangements, 
consisted of an orchard and quite extensive fields stretch- 
ing away to Bunker Hill Street. Among the objects of 
interest about this place, at one time, was a pair of 
antelopes kept in an inclosure near the house. Alto- 
gether, it was a homestead which its owner, Ebenezer 
Breed, who was a merchant having his office in Boston, 
must have enjoyed and looked upon with satisfaction and 
pleasure. 



174 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

The Adams (Kettell) estate was a part of a large 
parcel of land, for many years previous to 1789 the 
property of the Dizer family. About that time it came 
into the possession of Samuel Dowse, who sold it in 
1790 to Thomas Russell. He erected the large wooden 
building, which is still standing upon it, for an academy, 
and called it the Russell Academy. A few years later, 
on the death of Mr. Russell, the administrator of his 
estate sold the Russell Academy, which, including about 
four acres of land, was valued at $10,000, to his daughter 
Elizabeth, wife of John L. Sullivan, and in 18 16 it was 
conveyed by Sullivan to Nathan Adams, whose heirs 
have held the house and a portion of the land until the 
present time. Previous to its purchase by Mr. Adams 
the academy had been altered into a double house, which 
was occupied by Captain Thomas Backford, who removed 
from here to the Harrison house on Main Street, and by 
Honorable Samuel Dana, a distinguished man, a lawyer 
of prominence, and for some years chief justice of the 
old Court of Common P'leas. Judge Dana was the father 
of ex-Mayor James Dana, who was bom in this house. 

Nathan Adams, who purchased the estate and made 
it his residence until his death, September 11, 1830, was 
a tanner, a merchant, and an auctioneer, doing a good 
deal of business in the town for many years. Mrs. 
Kettell was his niece and adopted daughter. Mr. George 
A. Kettell was a native of Charlestown and spent his 
youth in the counting-room of Ebenezer Breed. He was 
for some years engaged in mercantile pursuits as a super- 
cargo, or at his store on Central Wharf in Boston, but 
later became much interested in railroads. At the time 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 175 

of his death, and for some years before, he was treasurer 
of the Northern Railroad and vice-president of the 
Bunker Hill Bank — an intelligent and successful man 
always. 

I may not have been wholly successful in describing 
this locality ; but if I could present to the mind of the 
reader of to-day this beautiful slope of land, with these 
few well-cared-f or estates occupying its whole area, show- 
ing it especially as it was on a fine day in May, I should 
hear, I know, expressions of great pleasure concerning 
this portion of the territory of old Charlestown. 

On the lower part of this ridge, as it dropped off 
towards Bunker Hill Street (that part of it which for- 
merly bore the name of Morton Street, from the turnpike 
to Tufts Street, where Bunker Hill Street used to begin), 
were several dwelling-houses, a brewery, and a ropewalk ; 
and, on the other side of the street, the brick-yard of 
Samuel Ferrin, a highly respected citizen, whose widow 
is still residing in the old homestead on the corner of 
Ferrin and Jackson streets, nearly one hundred years of 
age. The greater part of the remaining territory between 
here and Mystic River was the property of the Breed 
family. 

The Breeds were among the early settlers in Charles- 
town, originally coming here from Lynn. There were 
among them several shipmasters, a distiller, a shoemaker, 
and a tin-plate worker. The last was the business of 
Ebenezer, the father of the occupant of the estate we 
have described, on Chelsea Street. He was at one time 
town treasurer. He was a very thrifty man, the owner 
of a great deal of real-estate on the Mystic-river side of 



176 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

the town, portions of which were sold for the Navy Yard, 
the Salem Turnpike, and to the Chelsea Bridge corpora- 
tion. He had also estates on the Square, where he 
resided, and in other parts of the town. He died July 
13, 1 8 17, aged seventy-five. His property was divided 
among his surviving children — Ebenezer, John, Richard 
F., and Mary. Mary was the wife of Commodore John 
Shaw, of the United States Navy, about whom some- 
thing may be said hereafter. 

May 18, 1889. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 177 



XXX 
The Once Prominent Breed Family 

Richard and John Breed — Commodore John Shaw — Morton's 
Point — Rope-making. 

EBENEZER BREED, who occupied the fine estate 
described in the preceding chapter, was a merchant 
whose bills of exchange on England were for a long 
period looked upon and purchased with great confidence. 
But there came a day when they were not honored, and 
the good name of the house was irretrievably lost. Its 
failure was occasioned by a large loss met at the time of 
the fire in Doctor Beecher's church on Hanover Street, 
December 31, 1829. In the cellar of that church was 
stored a large quantity of merchandise, principally French 
brandy, which had been consigned to Mr. Breed by his 
correspondents in England, and which was uninsured, — 
as they claimed, by his negligence. The loss fell upon 
him. The claim was disputed and kept off a long while, 
but it had to be met at last, and it was large enough, 
taken in connection with some other losses, to shake the 
foundations and cause the ruin of a concern that had 
been looked upon as perfectly strong and secure. 

The dealings of Mr. Breed in his successful days had 
been with England, the Mediterranean, and the East 
Indies, and his operations were of considerable magnitude. 
A place in his counting-room was thought to be very 



lyS OLD CHARLESTOWN 

desirable, and many young men, sons of prominent 
citizens of Charlestown, were sent there to receive a 
business education. Charles and Richard Devens, George 
A. Kettell, Isaac W. Smith, and James L. Thompson 
were among those who spent some years at the old store 
and office in Dock Square. Eben and John Breed were 
originally importers and dealers in hardware, and when 
this business was given up John had a large balance to 
his credit which was left in his brother's hands to be 
used in a new business. Richard Breed lived in Liver- 
pool, England, and Eben made shipments of merchandise, 
and drew and sold bills of exchange on him. John had 
also a good deal of real-estate, the rents of which were 
collected by Eben and paid over from time to time as 
wanted. When the failure took place, the indebtedness 
of Eben to his brother John was very large, and the 
loss which he met was the cause of an estrangement 
between them which was never overcome. The relations 
between Richard and Eben Breed were also disturbed 
by an interference, real or imaginary, in an application 
for a discharge in bankruptcy in the English Court. 

Ebenezer Breed continued to occupy the estate on 
Adams Street, but his property was gone and the assist- 
ance of his brothers was limited. He died in 1850, a 
poor man. He was another of the original proprietors 
of the Harvard Church, and a constant attendant at the 
same. He was a gentlemanly man in his appearance, 
but the expression of his face was marred somewhat by 
projecting front teeth. He was exceedingly neat in his 
dress, and his address was that of a man who felt that 
his position in the community was one of prominence 
and importance. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 179 

John Breed was a man of very different aspect. He 
was rough-looking and forbidding, and he moved along 
as if he had little sympathy with the world around him. 
He was connected with his brother in business, and could 
be seen sometimes at the counting-room in Boston, but 
the greater part of his time was spent on Belle or 
Breed's Island, sometimes called Hog Island, which he 
owned and made his home. His manner of living here 
was rude ; and there was nothing connected with it that 
it will be well to remember. He was never married. 

The island mentioned was in many respects an inter- 
esting place. On it were many fine trees, and it was 
cultivated successfully as a farm. Between it and a 
point in Chelsea, where the Revere Rubber Company's 
factory is now situated, there was a bridge built by Mr. 
Breed, the draw of which was kept hoisted for the greater 
part of the time. It was lowered when the old man 
left the island, and also on his return, but at no other 
time without special permission. On the island was a 
cave, dug into the bank, supported by solid stone walls 
and closed with iron doors, and in it were deposited at 
times large amounts of silver money — Spanish dollars — 
collected and used for the purchase of East India goods, 
placed here for safe-keeping while the vessels on which 
it was to be shipped were getting ready for sea. Mr. 
Breed had in his employ an old Indian, called Gossum, 
whose special duty it was to have an eye on this cave, and 
whose sleeping-place was near to it. John Breed died 
suddenly and unexpectedly, from indigestion or its effects. 
Word was immediately sent to his brother in Charles- 
town, and the next morning Mrs. Breed, accompanied by 
a well-known clergyman of the town, made a visit to the 



i8o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

island, where they found the body of the old man, on his 
untidy bed, just as he had died, untouched by any human 
hands. On a table by the bedside were a pair of loaded 
horse-pistols, which his old housekeeper informed them 
were always kept there for defense, if need be, against 
intruders on the island. After the necessary arrange- 
ments for attention to the body had been made, a look 
over the premises for the proper care of the personal 
effects of the deceased was had, and many valuable 
articles found were taken away in the carriage which had 
conveyed the party to the island. Among these things 
was an iron box found in the cave referred to, which 
contained $5000 in silver money, which was handed over 
to the executor named in a will also found on the 
premises, in Mr. Breed's own handwriting, on half a 
sheet of foolscap paper. By the will the bulk of his 
property was given to his brother Richard, of Liverpool, 
England, and but little to his brother Ebenezer. 

Commodore John Shaw of the United States Navy, 
who married Mary Breed, was the son of an English 
officer. He was born in Queen's County, Ireland, in 
1773, and emigrated to this country with an elder brother 
in 1790, settling in Philadelphia. He adopted a sea- 
faring life, and in 1 797 was master of a brig sailing to 
the West Indies. He was appointed a lieutenant in the 
navy, August, 1798, on the breaking out of hostilities 
with France. He was advanced rapidly in the naval 
service and had a very distinguished career. He had 
charge of the Navy Yard in Charlestown for some time, 
and afterwards resided in the old Russell mansion-house 
on the Square, the same building that in later years was 



OLD CHARLESTOWN i8i 

occupied as a hotel called the Mansion House, which was 
very popular under the management of Gorham Bigelow 
and Charles Stinson. 

The old brick house on the corner of Chelsea and 
Bunker Hill streets was built by Ralph Richardson in 
1803. It was occupied for many years by Russell 
Sanborn. During the war of 18 12 it was used as 
barracks. An old citizen of the town, who died not 
long ago, told me that he remembered distinctly seeing 
one of the soldiers sitting at the window with a gag in 
his mouth so arranged as to cause much suffering. This 
was one of the modes of punishment at that time which 
would hardly be submitted to now. 

At the end of the last century, and for thirty years 
or more from the beginning of this one, the ropemaking 
business was a very considerable industry in this part of 
the town. There were two ropewalks in operation — 
one running in from the turnpike (Chelsea Street) to the 
rear of the Tufts and Breed estates, and another farther 
down, from Morton Street (now Moulton Street) to 
Mystic River. The last named was the first established. 
Joseph Burton and Benjamin Gray were its original 
proprietors, in 1794. Then Joseph N. Howe carried it 
on for some time. He was the father of Samuel Gridley 
Howe, the distinguished philanthropist, the projector and 
successful manager of the Perkins Institution for the 
Blind. Jeffrey Richardson and Thomas Larrabee were 
at one time interested in this cordage-factory. It was 
afterwards purchased by Captain Benjamin Whipple, 
who, with his partner, Edward Adams, carried on a 
successful business here for many years. The other 



i82 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

ropewalk was owned and occupied by Joseph Simonds 
and Joseph Babb, and by Benjamin Adams, and was also 
a busy place for a long period. 

Captain Benjamin Whipple was a prominent man in the 
town. His name will be frequently seen on its records, 
he being elected to many important offices which he filled 
with ability and credit. He was a useful member of the 
school committee and one of the earliest advocates of a 
High School. He represented the town in the Legis- 
lature in 1824, '27, and '29. After giving up the 
cordage business he was appointed an inspector in the 
Custom House and filled that office for a long time. 
For some years his residence was in a large wooden 
house near his ropewalk, but he afterwards owned and 
occupied the estate on the corner of School and High 
streets — the same recently purchased by John Boyle 
O'Reilly from the heirs of C. C. Sampson. 

Edward Adams was the first occupant of the brick 
house on High Street, near School Street, now the 
residence of George W. Berry. It was built about 1830 
by his nephew, who removed soon after to South Amer- 
ica after selling the estate to his uncle. Benjamin 
Adams was a thrifty man, well thought of by his fellow- 
townsmen, who sent him to the Legislature in 1833. 
Both the Adamses were among the original members of 
the Universalist Church Society. 

In the preceding chapter I referred to Nathan Adams 
as an auctioneer, and since completing what I have said 
about ropewalks at the Point a friend has handed me a 
clipping from a Boston newspaper, issued Tuesday morn- 
ing, May 18, 18 1 2, which may be interesting to some 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 183 

readers inasmuch as it describes fully, in an advertise- 
ment of an auction-sale by Mr. Adams, the cordage- 
factory on the other side of the town referred to in a 
former article : 

May 18, 1812. 
This Day at 12 o'clock. — The valuable Rope Walk, 
in Charlestown, situated near the State-Prison and the 
Land and Water Lots adjacent to the same. — The Rope 
Walk standing on the south side of a street 30 feet in 
width, is one of the best in the Commonwealth, and 
contains every implement for an extensive Cordage- 
manufactory. The Upland contains about one hundred 
thousand square feet. The water lots extend about 900 
feet on the shore & are 1 70 feet deep from high to low 
water mark. They afford excellent situations for Ship 
building from their proximity to the Middlesex Canal, 
through which ample supplies of Timber, &c. can readily 
be obtained. The proposed Dam from Lechmores to 
Prison point, which is expected to be completed soon, 
will draw a large share of the business of Charlestown 
to this spot. Combining so many advantages, an excel- 
lent opportunity is offered for speculation to the capital- 
ist who wishes to invest property in Real estate capable 
of extensive improvement. Terms made known at the 
sale. Nath'l. Adams^ auct. 

June 29, 1889. 



i84 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXXI 
The Frothinghams 

Names That Are Familiar to All Old Residents of Charles- 
town — A Notable Family. 

r ROTH INGHAM is a name familiar to all old 
residents of Charlestown, and it carries with it a 
record of eminence, friendliness, and usefulness on 
the part of those who have borne it which it is pleasant 
to dwell upon. 

On the list of those who made up the company of 
Governor Winthrop, on his arrival here in 1630 to estab- 
lish a colony, can be found William Frothingham, from 
Yorkshire, England, who became an inhabitant from 
that date, and a freeman of the colony and church- 
member in 1632. His wife was connected with the 
church the same year. The old records refer to him 
frequently as a leading and useful citizen and member of 
the community, and his name is on the original agree- 
ment for the government of the town by selectmen, and 
on other important town and church documents of his 
time. 

The Frothinghams, who have been prominent in 
the history of Charlestown and Boston since that time, 
were and are descendants of this William. Rev. Dr. 
Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, and his distinguished 
son. Rev. Octavius Brooks Frothingham ; Samuel Froth- 
ingham, a former cashier of the State Bank, and after- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 185 

wards of the Boston branch of the old United States 
Bank ; James Frothingham, the eminent portrait-painter, 
and Richard Frothingham, the historian, all go back to 
him as their earliest ancestor in this country. 

Before the Revolutionary War, when the colonists 
were smarting under the oppression of the British gov- 
ernment and remonstrating against its legislation and 
unjust decrees, the Frothinghams are found occupying 
prominent positions in the town, and their names are 
attached to many of the patriotic documents which 
stirred the people to resistance and war. During the 
war they showed their sincerity by enlistment and 
service, some of them continuing all through the con- 
test. Richard Frothingham, the grandfather of Richard, 
the historian, was for a long time in the army, and Major 
Benjamin Frothingham so distinguished himself that 
General Washington, on his visit to Massachusetts after 
the war, honored him by a call at his residence on Main 
Street, near the corner of Mill Street. 

Major Benjamin Frothingham was one of the charter 
members of King Solomon's Lodge of Free Masons, 
and its first junior warden, elected in 1783, when the 
lodge was originally organized. The records of the 
lodge, as published, refer to a visit made in December, 
i860, by a former master, the venerable Right Worthy 
Brother Thomas Hooper, and to an interesting address 
made by him at the time, relating chiefly to the early 
history of the lodge and its founders, with all of whom 
he was personally acquainted. I copy the following 
from that address : 

" Benjamin Frothingham was a Mason for many years 
previous to the formation of our lodge, but I know not 



i86 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

where or when he received the degrees. It appears, 
however, by record, that he was admitted a member of 
Saint Andrew's Lodge in 1763. He was a mechanic 
(cabinet-maker), but was zealously engaged in the War 
of the Revolution, in which his good conduct as an officer 
in one of the most important battles attracted the notice 
and won the confidence of the commander-in-chief. 
* Major Ben,' as he was called, on the termination of the 
war returned to his old homestead on Main Street, near 
what is now called Mill Street, where he rebuilt his 
old house and shop, renewed his former occupation of 
cabinet-making, and there spent the evening of his days, 
some twenty years, enjoying the respect, confidence, and 
gratitude of his neighbors and fellow-citizens. He died 
in 1809," at the age of seventy-five years. 

The Frothinghams as early as 1740 began to be 
known as carriage and coach makers, and a large number 
of the family in all its branches were engaged in this 
business for a century afterwards, not only in Charles- 
town, but in Boston, Cambridge, Salem, and Danvers. 
There was a neighborhood of Frothinghams on Main 
Street, near Eden Street, and all through that street to 
Bunker Hill. Here their ancestors first became pos- 
sessed of real-estate in the town, some of which has 
been held in the family to the present day. They were 
all carriage-makers, or in some way connected with that 
business. On one side of Main Street were the shops 
of Richard Frothingham, to whom we have before 
referred as the builder and owner of the large house 
on the corner of Main and Eden streets, afterwards 
purchased and occupied by Isaac Mead, and who was 
succeeded in the business by his sons Richard, James K., 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 187 

Isaac, and John. On the other side of Main Street, 
Joseph and Thomas, and, after the death of Thomas, his 
son Joshua Paine Frothingham, manufactured carriages 
and harnesses. 

Frothingham's yard, near the corner of Main and 
Eden streets, was a busy place ; and in it could be seen 
all kinds of carriages from an old-fashioned hand-cart to 
a stage-coach. Around the yard were the shops of the 
body-maker, wheelwright, black and white smith, and 
trimmer, and the painters' platforms bedaubed with 
colors, tests of their mixing for years. The sound of 
the smith's hammer and file, the sparks from his anvil, 
the blazing of his forge and the sizzling of hot tires, the 
moving to and fro of scores of apprentices and journey- 
men, the hitching and unhitching of teams leaving or 
taking away carriages which needed or had received the 
attention of the workmen — all helped to make a lively 
scene. 

The ordinary work of the yard went on without 
excitement ; but the delivery of a new, stylish, and 
handsomely painted coach, omnibus, express - wagon, 
ladder-truck, or hose-carriage would oftentimes call out 
all the boys from the shops and call in all the boys from 
the streets to give the thing a proper start off, and some- 
times approval and satisfaction with the finished work 
would be expressed by cheers and a tiger. Industry and 
cheerfulness marked the neighborhood, while good work 
and good works were always expected and could be con- 
fidently counted upon from the Frothinghams, carriage- 
makers in Charlestown. 

The homes of the Frothinghams on Eden Street were 
inviting places. Their houses, with one end on the 



i88 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

street, fronting good-sized gardens, were pleasant and 
attractive. Around these gardens were currant, rasp- 
berry, and quince bushes ; in the center, fruit-trees — 
cherry, apple, and plum, and in one of them, surely, a 
mulberry-tree, the fruit of which the writer remembers 
with smacking lips and a relish that seems now, almost, 
to be touching and tickling the right spot. In front of 
the houses were flower-beds, where cinnamon, damask, 
and white roses grew luxuriantly, and fall phlox, chrys- 
anthemums, and dahlias were gorgeous until the first 
frost. 

James K. Frothingham was a marked man in the 
community. He was a very useful man, and the record 
of his work should read well in the town history of his 
time. As an official he was capable and popular. He 
filled many of the most important town and city offices, 
and was looked up to by a large number of his fellow- 
citizens for advice and assistance. The trusts imposed 
upon him were numerous, and in the transfer of real- 
estate and the settlement of the estates of deceased 
persons he was confided in as a competent and faithful 
agent and counselor. He was one of the trustees of the 
Warren Institution for Savings, and for many years its 
secretary. He was a representative in the Legislature 
in 1823 and '25. He was one of the original members 
and a deacon of the First Universalist Church and 
Society, and a constant attendant on its services until 
his death. The records of the society contain many 
important and interesting reports and letters written by 
him as an official and thoroughly posted friend of the 
denomination to which he belonged. In his younger 
days he was popular as a military officer, and he was one 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 189 

of the early commanders of the old Charlestown Light 
Infantry. His son, the highly respected and venerable 
Henry Knox Frothingham, the oldest living vice-president 
of the Warren Institution for Savings, and until lately 
cashier of the Massachusetts National Bank, was for- 
merly warden of the Massachusetts State Prison. His 
services as chairman of the school committee for many 
years were of great value to the town and city ; and by 
the Harvard Unitarian Society, of which he was deacon 
and treasurer, he is held in the highest esteem and 
reverence. 

Richard Frothingham — father of the historian and 
of Mrs. Thomas A. Goddard, so widely esteemed for 
her generosity and benevolence — was known by almost 
everybody in town, and was familiarly and pleasantly 
referred to as " Uncle Richard." Genial, happy Uncle 
Richard ! He was everybody's friend, and respect for 
him knew no exception. Were his neighbors prosperous 
he could share in their enjoyment and never know the 
feeling of envy ; and he could sympathize with them in 
sorrow and touch their hearts by his sincerity. With 
him friendship was above riches, and the common weal 
above selfishness. He could enjoy life himself, and to 
see others happy was his delight. The tune which he 
hummed as he passed along the street was always a 
cheerful one, and its echo from his heart was unmistak- 
able and clear. He had a theory of life which fixed 
his religious and political views, and his faith in the 
triumph of good over evil was never shaken. He was 
not an ambitious man, and the reward of that quality 
in human nature was not his to receive ; but he was 
a good man and won fairly the marked esteem and 



I90 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

respect which his neighbors and townsmen always felt 
for him. 

Honorable Richard Frothingham, the historian of the 
town and the author of "The Siege of Boston," "Life 
of Joseph Warren," " The Rise of the Republic," 
" Memoirs of Thomas Starr King," and other historical 
books which have been the subject of highly favorable 
criticism by other historians of eminence, not only hon- 
ored his birthplace by his genius and industry in the 
preparation of these valuable books, but was ever one 
of its most useful citizens, filling its most important 
offices with great acceptance and being constantly 
engaged all through his life in efforts to promote the 
welfare of his native town. He was for many years 
chairman of the school committee, and his reports, which 
were printed, show his deep interest in the work of 
common school education, while his reputation among 
the teachers and educators of his time was that of a 
faithful and conscientious friend and adviser. He was 
afterwards mayor of the city for three years, 185 1, '52 
and '53; a representative in the State Legislature in 
1840, '42, '44, '50, '51 ; and a member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention in 1853. He was for a long period 
treasurer of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; for 
some years president of the Bunker Hill Monument 
Association ; and for forty years chairman of the stand- 
ing committee of the First Universalist Church. 

Joshua Paine Frothingham lived on the opposite side 
of Main Street. Frothingham Avenue was laid out 
through his estate, running from Main Street to the old 
mill-pond wholly on land owned by him. In the rear of 
his house, which fronted on Main Street, was his carriage- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 191 

manufactory and livery-stable — both of them busy 
places and popular establishments of the time. Mr. 
Frothingham was able and thrifty in his business and an 
unusually kind-hearted and generous man. His house 
was a real home, not only to the members of his family 
but to all who visited it, and his friends were numerous. 
His apprentices and employees were among those who 
were cared for by his family and who shared in their 
comfort and cheer. In health or in sickness they were 
sure of consideration and kindness, and they never lost 
their regard for the old homestead and its occupants. 

Among those who spent their early days in the employ 
of Paine Frothingham were the Gages — Addison, 
Charles P., and Alvah — all of whom were afterwards 
successfully engaged in the ice-business. Addison, as 
the head of the firms of Gage, Hittenger & Co., Gage, 
Sawyer & Co., and Addison Gage & Co., will be remem- 
bered as an energetic business man, and as an active and 
useful worker in the political, charitable, and social affairs 
of the town. Charles P., after the death of Mr. Froth- 
ingham, purchased the livery-stable and carried it on for 
some years. He then went to Mobile to take charge of 
the ice-houses established there by Gage, Hittenger & 
Co., and remained until his death, having become a 
prominent man in that city. Alvah went in the same 
employ to Charleston, South Carolina, and is now a 
leading business man and citizen of that place. 

Thomas Harrington Frothingham, son of Joshua Paine, 
was one of the original members of the firm of Gage, 
Hittenger & Co. He spent a good deal of time in New 
Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, managing the affairs of the 
firm in those cities. He died November 27, 1850, when 



192 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

he was only thirty-one years old ; but he lived long 
enough to earn and enjoy the reputation of an excellent 
business man. His generosity and charming social 
qualities endeared him to a very large circle of friends, 
and his early death was the occasion of the most sincere 
sorrow and regret. He had two sisters, one of whom is 
the wife of Joseph F. Hovey, a native of Charlestown, 
who has been very prominent in the insurance-business 
in Boston for more than a quarter of a century. The 
other sister, Miss Rebecca W. Frothingham, who died 
suddenly, June ii, 1874, in the vestry of the Universal- 
ist Church, while attending a meeting of the Sunday- 
school teachers, was very generally known in town for 
the interest she manifested in all the benevolent move- 
ments of her time. She was especially useful in the 
Sabbath-school connected with the Universalist Church, 
and was a constant attendant at the services of that 
church, as her parents had been before her. 

The Frothinghams were connected by marriage with 
many of the leading families in the town, such as the 
Kettells,Tuftses,Thompsons, Sawyers, Fosdicks, Austins, 
Rands, Hunnewells, Edeses, Phippses, and Halls. The 
extent of their influence upon its affairs and character, 
from its first settlement to the present time, it is impos- 
sible to estimate. But it must have been very great and 
of unquestioned excellence. 

October 5, 1889. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 193 



XXXII 
A Notable Visitor 

Kossuth, the Hungarian Patriot, greeted in Chariestown as a 
Tried and True Friend of Liberty — Reception at Mayor 
Frothingham's. 

IN the preceding chapter I remarked that a part of 
the original estate acquired by the Frothinghams in 
Chariestown was still held by members of the family. 
The brick house on Main Street — the home of Frank 
A. Hall, whose wife is a sister of Richard Frothingham, 
the historian — covers the plot of land on which her 
father's shop formerly stood. The history of music in 
the old town and city must sometime be written, when 
what has been going on in this house for the last quarter 
of a century or more will claim an extended notice. It 
is all alive, at the present time, with melody and harmony, 
with sweet sounds and song. It is the pleasant resort 
of musical people and a host of friends, a place where 
real enjoyment is always in store for them. 

The Winchester Home for Aged Women stands upon 
land which was a part of the original Frothingham 
estate. The house in which James K. Frothingham 
lived is still intact. It was used for the Home before 
the erection of the large brick building, and is yet held 
by the institution as a part of its investment for income. 
Richard Frothingham's house was taken down to make 



194 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

room for the large building ; but it is remembered by 
some of us with pleasure as a place where kindred and 
friends were happy and strangers were cordially wel- 
comed. The Halls occupied the old homestead for 
some years before building the brick house on Main 
Street to which we have referred, and Mrs. Hall, one of 
the most faithful among the faithful, was touched with 
a feeling of sadness when its day for destruction had 
come ; but it was giving place to so excellent an institu- 
tion that the shadow soon passed away. She has ever 
manifested a deep interest in the Home, frequently enter- 
tains its inmates with pleasant evening readings, and 
delights in opportunities for making others happy on the 
spot where she was born. 

Thomas B. Wyman, the author of " Genealogies and 
Estates in Charlestown," belonged to the Frothingham 
family. His mother was sister to James K. and Richard 
Frothingham. Mr. Wyman was a somewhat peculiar per- 
son who gave his whole life to the research and patient 
labor necessary for the production of the book we have 
referred to. That he did his native town great service 
in this respect cannot be questioned. He persistently 
and perseveringly carried out his plan for arranging and 
preserving the genealogical records of the town, and he 
has made possible much of what has been and will be 
written by others concerning its history. The clue to 
much of the past — the important past of Charlestown — 
would be lost without his book ; and the City Council 
did a wise thing when they purchased his manuscript and 
caused to be completed what he had undertaken and 
labored to accomplish. 

Richard Frothingham, the historian, was for thirteen 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 195 

years (from 1852 to 1865) one of the proprietors and 
editors of The Bostoii Moimhig Post. His patriotic and 
spirited articles in that newspaper, published, at the 
opening of the Civil War, under the head of " Stand by 
the Flag," were of great service in waking up the people 
of the North to the danger of the situation, and to 
the absolute necessity for union of sentiment and for 
immediate and decisive action. 

Mr. Frothingham was a very hospitable man and 
entertained his friends with much Hberality. At his 
residence they had frequent opportunities of meeting 
men of eminence. His reception at the time of the 
visit to Bunker Hill of Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian 
patriot, and his eloquent address of welcome delivered 
under the shadow of the monument, must be remem- 
bered by many of our citizens of the present day. It 
would be well, almost, to republish that address and 
catch again the spirit of enthusiasm which it woke up at 
the time, and which was so gratifying and encouraging 
to the noble man to whom it was specially addressed. 

This visit of Kossuth was made in 1852. Mr. Froth- 
ingham was mayor, and on the 19th of April, the 
anniversary of the Lexington fight, he sent a com- 
munication to the City Council recommending that 
measures be taken to tender to Kossuth, who was about 
to visit Massachusetts, the hospitality of the city. The 
Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to give him an 
official invitation, but the Common Council, by a vote of 
nine to six, refused to concur. Then a public meeting 
of the citizens was called, which was held in City Hall 
on the evening of April 27. The mayor presided. Jacob 
Foss, Charles Thompson, and Moses B. Sewall were 



196 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

vice-presidents, and Edward Thorndike and Warren Rand 
secretaries. A committee of thirty-eight citizens was 
chosen, to invite Governor Kossuth to visit the city, and 
to make the necessary arrangements for his reception. 
This committee was composed as follows : Richard 
Frothingham, Jr., Henry P. Fairbanks, Jacob Foss, 
Charles Thompson, P. B. Holmes, J. Q. A. Grifhn, 
Edward Lawrence, Timothy T. Sawyer, George P. 
Sanger, Seth J. Thomas, George P. Kettell, P. J. Stone, 
George W. Warren, Addison Gage, Ezra Brown, Timothy 
Fletcher, Ichabod Lindsey, Moses B. Sewall, Jesse Gay, 
P. S. Briggs, Aaron Clarke 2d, Philander Ames, S. H. 
Allen, James G. Fuller, George B. Albee, Seth W. 
Lewis, Edward Thorndike, William W. Pierce, Zenas C. 
Howland, John Sanborn, Jesse Stevens, William Williams, 
Aura S. Tuttle, Andrew J. Locke, James Damon, Oliver 
Smith, Thomas J. Elliot. J. Q. A. Griffin offered a set 
of six stirring resolutions, the first, second, and last of 
which were as follows : 

Resolved, That we assemble to-night to promulgate 
no new doctrine, to achieve no new purpose, to stimulate 
to no new action ; but to re-affirm the principles which 
Bunker Hill for more than three-quarters of a century 
has so nobly claimed relationship with, and which have 
ever found a residence in the bosoms of her sons. 

Resolved, That the advent to New England of the 
Hungarian governor, illustrious not less by his enlarged 
learning and comprehensive mind than by his signal 
services for freedom and the republican principle, is an 
opportunity which a free people should seize upon with 
alacrity for the exercise of a magnanimous hospitality, 
in order that they may testify to the struggling nations 
of the earth, wherever they may exist, that their attach- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 197 

ment is to the principle and not simply to the name of 
freedom. 

Re solve dy That this assembly extends its warmest 
welcome to the Hungarian Chief and earnestly invites 
him to the acceptance of the hospitalities of the people 
of Charlestown. It asks him to accept the heartfelt 
thanks of all earnest souls for his magnanimous deeds, 
as expressed, not through frigid committees or municipal 
corporations, but from the hearts of the whole people. 
It invites him to Middlesex County, the earliest and 
most illustrious battle-field of our own Revolution ; to a 
view of its industry, its enterprise, its intelligence — the 
legitimate fruits of that system of government which 
that illustrious man has struggled so mightily to secure 
in his own land. It invites him to that shaft which 
marks the spot where Warren fell and Prescott and 
Putnam fought for that freedom which protects and 
governs us. And, finally, it invites him to these scenes, 
cordially and enthusiastically, because it believes that in 
him the republican principle which has made our country 
great and glorious among the nations of the earth has a 
brave, determined, and able defender. 



In compliance with this invitation Kossuth visited 
Charlestown on Monday, the 3d of May. Decoration 
about the city was never more profuse. At the entrance 
to the Square the Hungarian and United States flags 
were flying together; the stars-and-stripes waved from 
the tops of all the public buildings ; many private 
residences were tastefully trimmed with bunting; flags 
and pennants were gracefully arranged and suspended 
across the streets, and various designs were to be seen 
with these inscriptions prominently displayed upon 
them: "Welcome to Kossuth," ** Kossuth, the True 
Expounder of Universal Liberty," " Kossuth, the De- 



198 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

voted Friend of Hungary," "All Nations shall be Free," 
and so forth. 

Early in the forenoon a deputation from the com- 
mittee of arrangements proceeded in carriages to the 
Revere House, in Boston, and, on being introduced 
to Kossuth, conducted him to a barouche in waiting 
without, in which he was drawn by four fine bay horses 
to the draw of Warren Bridge. He was a man fifty 
years old, of medium height and fine personal appear- 
ance. He was dressed in Hungarian costume, wearing 
a velvet sack trimmed with wide braid, and a low- 
crowned, black velvet hat with a feather in front. He 
was accompanied by Captains Kalapza and Grechenck, 
Messrs. Pulszky and Hajnik, and by the Honorable 
Anson Burlingame of the State Committee. At the 
draw he was received by Mayor Frothingham, chairman 
of the committee of arrangements, and a battalion of 
military consisting of the Charlestown City Guard and 
the Artillery, commanded by Captain George P. Sanger. 
At this point Mr. Burlingame, in behalf of the State 
Committee, resigned his charge to Mayor Frothingham 
and Henry P. Fairbanks, Esq., president of the Common 
Council, as the guest of the people of Charlestown. 
The procession then took up its line of march and pro- 
ceeded through the principal streets of the city to Mon- 
ument Square, Breed's Hill. Against the west side of 
the monument a very large platform was erected, upon 
which at an early hour were seated hundreds of ladies, 
the wives and daughters of the committee of arrange- 
ments and of other citizens. Plags of all nations were 
suspended from the top of the monument to the iron 
fence on the north and south, forming a pyramid, and 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 199 

from each window at the top was displayed the flag of 
the United States. The scene was grand and beautiful. 
It was estimated that not less than fifteen thousand 
persons were gathered around the platform. The school 
children were arranged on the banks of the square. 
When Kossuth passed the battalion and ascended the 
platform amidst the sound of patriotic music, the boom- 
ing of cannon, and the cheers of the multitude, he 
expressed his admiration and great joy at the spectacle, 
and was touched to the heart. 

When quiet was restored, the mayor delivered his 
address of welcome, and it was replied to by the dis- 
tinguished visitor. The addresses were of the highest 
order, eloquent and impressive. They furnish interest- 
ing and instructive reading to the young people of the 
present generation, and pleasing recollection to those 
who were listeners at the time of their delivery. 

Kossuth and his companions ascended the monument 
and were gratified by a view of the surrounding country. 
They were then escorted to the residence of Mr. Froth- 
ingham, where they were generously entertained, and 
where a large party of citizens were introduced to them. 
They returned to the Revere House toward evening, 
after expressing great pleasure in the attentions of the 
day. 

November 2, 1889. 



200 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXXIII 

Major Timothy Walker 

Another Prominent Family — Walker Street — Charlotte Cushman 
— Thomas Ball. 

JUST above the Paine Frothingham estate on Main 
Street was the residence of Major Timothy 
Walker — an oblong-square building of good size, 
three stories high, fronting upon a grass plot and garden. 
The house was painted white with green blinds, which 
was in accordance with the general idea of elegance and 
good taste at the time. Some fine trees ornamented the 
grounds, which were inclosed by an open wooden fence, 
also painted white. The estate extended down from 
Main Street to the river, and on the river was a wharf, 
" Walker's Wharf," where for some years a large business 
in slaughtering, packing, and shipping beef was carried 
on by the Major. He was a merchant, always full of 
business, interested in commerce, and an operator in 
real-estate. He owned a great deal of land in the town, 
which he was constantly improving. Many of the 
buildings erected by him are still standing. 

Major Walker, as I remember him, was a ruddy-faced, 
strong-looking man, dignified but stern in his manner, 
deliberate in his movement, decided in his opinions. 
His conversation was usually preceded by a " hem ! " or 
clearing of the throat, which, taken in connection with a 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 201 

natural gruffness of voice, made it very forcible, while 
his keen eyes fixed upon his listeners commanded atten- 
tion to his remarks. Dressed in the fashion of his time, 
in a blue broad-cloth suit with gilt buttons on the coat 
and a ruffled shirt bosom, and usually carrying a hand- 
somely-mounted cane, his importance as a prominent 
citizen of the town was generally acknowledged. He 
was quite equal to the management of his large business, 
giving it always his personal attention. He was rated 
by his townsmen as their richest man, and showed an 
interest in all new enterprises undertaken by them. 

This is evidenced by his selection as the head of 
institutions chartered to facilitate the business and 
growth of the town. When the Bunker Hill Bank was 
organized, June 27, 1825, Major Walker was made its 
first president and filled the office until October, 1835, 
over ten years. He was also the first president of the 
Warren Institution for Savings, elected in April, 1829, 
retiring in 1835. He was sent to the State Legislature 
— to the House of Representatives in 18 15 and 18 18, 
and to the Senate in 1822. Major Walker was for many 
years a member of the First Church, but when the 
Second Congregational (now Harvard) Church was estab- 
lished he was dismissed to it, and as long as he lived was 
one of its most active members, attending regularly upon 
its services and aiding it by his influence and purse. He 
was one of the proprietors of the wooden church on 
High Street in which the society first held its meetings, 
and was a contributor tow^ards the purchase of the lot 
of land on which the brick church now stands. 

The clock in the church was a gift from him, and the 
rich-toned bell, which still hangs in the tower, was pur- 



202 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

chased by the proceeds of the old bell and $500, given 
by him in his will for the purpose. The inscription on 
the bell, *'The gift of Timothy Walker," was cast on it 
by vote of the society. He was for some years a mem- 
ber of the parish committee and on many important special 
committees of the church and society, — among them 
the following : To make arrangements for the ordination 
of its first minister. Rev. Thomas Prentiss, March 26, 
18 1 7, and on the death of Mr. Prentiss, Sunday, October 
5, 18 17, to arrange the funeral services ; to take charge 
of the services at the ordination of the second minister. 
Rev. James Walker (a nephew of Timothy), Wednesday, 
April 15, 1818 ; and to build the new brick church in 
1818. 

In the will of Major Walker was a bequest of $1000 
to the Theological School of Harvard College ; also a 
bequest to the town of Charlestown for the purchase 
and setting out of shade trees. Nearly all of the trees 
which now ornament the streets of this district were 
paid for out of this fund and planted in accordance with 
the provisions of this latter bequest. Major Walker did 
good service to the town as a member of its government, 
especially in the matter of laying out streets and keeping 
them in order. He was on the committee having charge 
of the paving of Main Street for the first time. This 
was looked upon then as a great undertaking, and, when 
it was completed, as worthy of celebration by the com- 
mittee and their friends. A day spent in a sail down 
the harbor, a jolly time on the boat, — usually a coasting- 
schooner hired for the purpose, — and a chowder on one 
of the islands, was at that period thought to be very 
enjoyable and a proper thing to be done on an occasion 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 203 

like this ; and such an excursion was determined upon 
and carried out, not, as such things are done nowadays, 
at the expense of the town, but by individual assessment 
for the payment of the bills when the fun was over. 

A good story about Major Walker in connection with 
this excursion has been many times told and may bear 
another repetition. Tradition has it that in the olden 
time prop-shaking was always in order on excursion-boats 
in the harbor, and that a small amount of money at stake, 
adding interest to the game, was deemed harmless and 
allowable. The custom was an old one, universally 
observed, and the paving committee, acquiescing in the 
general judgment concerning it, were prepared for this 
kind of amusement. On the deck of the schooner, as 
she was sailing away, might have been seen a circle of 
interested players testing their good or bad luck by the 
rattle and dropping of four little sea-shells weighted with 
sealing-wax. Among the players was Major Walker, and 
standing directly behind him was his hired man whose 
services had been tendered to the party as a helper to 
the steward. He was a young fellow, fresh from the 
wilds of Maine, who had been hired only a little while 
before by the Major as a man of all work about his house 
and garden, and who knew nothing of town life. The 
relation of master and man, as held by Major Walker, can 
be inferred from the description we have given of him. 
He countenanced no familiarity with anybody, and was 
never inclined to lessen the distance that propriety had 
measured between the master and his servant. The 
Major, as we have said, was interested in the game of 
props, and was having a streak of luck in his throws, 
while, without his knowledge, his servant, with his eyes 



204 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

opened wide, was directly behind him looking on. A 
nick, another, and still others had been thrown, the 
stakes had been doubled again and again until dollars 
instead of fourpence-ha'pennies made up the pool. The 
servant in the rear had become intensely interested, and, 
with his sense of propriety entirely lost, when his master 
had made another lucky throw he slapped him violently 
on his shoulder, exclaiming in a loud voice, " Go it, my 
Roman ! Gad ! how you nick 'em ! " What a rattling 
there must have been in the old gentleman's throat as 
he turned to reprove the boy and thought of the indig- 
nity which his ignorance and forgetfulness had occasioned. 
The amusement it afforded the rest of the company, how- 
ever, can be imagined, and it is not strange that, for 
years afterwards, " Go it, my Roman ! " was a frequent 
remark among the town's people, as Major Walker passed 
along the streets. 

In the building next to the corner of Main and Walker 
streets, the lower story of which is now occupied by 
Hosmer Brothers as a grocery-store, Charlotte Cush- 
man, the celebrated actress and justly distinguished 
woman, lived in her girlhood for several years. She had 
previously lived in a house on what is now called Warren 
Avenue, her parents having removed here from Boston 
in 1828. While she was a pupil in the grammar school 
for girls in Charlestown the trustees of the schools made 
an arrangement with William Russell, a teacher of 
elocution, to give instruction on Wednesday and Satur- 
day afternoons to a class made up of the oldest scholars, 
male and female, in all of the grammar schools. The 
writer remembers the first meeting of this class. Miss 
Cushman was a member of it ; and it was on this 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 205 

occasion, in the old Town Hill school-house, that she 
undoubtedly received her first lesson in an art so 
thoroughly understood by her in after life and which 
had so much to do with her advancement and great 
success. 

Not far from the house in which Charlotte Cushman 
lived, in a street at the time newly laid out, — the present 
Walker Street, — was born another distinguished artist, 
Thomas Ball, singer, painter, and sculptor. The street 
was laid out by Major Walker and his name was given 
to it by the town. The statues of Washington, in the 
PubHc Garden, and of John A. Andrew, in the State 
House, and the ideal statue of the Shipwrecked Sailor 
Boy, will be remembered as among the works by Ball. 

November 30, 1889. 



2o6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXXIV 

The Walker Family 

Dr. William J. Walker — Distinguished Graduates of his 
School — Samuel T. Armstrong, an Eminent Book Pub- 
lisher — Where the Universalists held their First Meetings. 

DR. WILLIAM J. WALKER, the very distin- 
guished surgeon and physician, was a son of 
Major Timothy Walker. He was a graduate of 
Harvard College (1810). He studied medicine with 
Governor John Brooks, of Medford. After spending 
some time in Paris, France, he returned and commenced 
the practice of his profession in Charlestown, and con- 
tinued here for over thirty years. As a skillful surgeon 
he had no superior in the State ; as a physician he was 
successful and eminent. His practice in town was very 
large, and he was held in the highest esteem by the 
families he visited. He was never communicative con- 
cerning his patients, or very gracious in his replies to 
the inquiries of anxious friends as to their condition, 
but, in spite of this peculiarity, he had their full confi- 
dence, they being sure of his thoughtful and careful 
attention to the cases he had in hand, while their faith 
in his ability was unbounded. 

Doctor Walker lived on Main Street, in a brick house 
built by Dr. Josiah Bartlett which is still standing. It 
is on the original site, but it stood back from Main 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 207 

Street, with an open area in front of it which has since 
been covered by the brick building in which are now 
the stores of Alonzo Rand, Joshua Rea, and Horatio 
WelHngton & Co., and the hall occupied for some years 
as headquarters for the Republican Party. The entrance 
to the Doctor Walker house is now from Harvard Street 
only. Formerly the estate ran through from Main to 
Town Hill, now Harvard Street. The way to the house 
-was from Main Street, through the garden, in which 
there were several large, wide-spreading, beautiful horse- 
chestnut trees, while on Harvard Street was a brick 
stable, which is still there though now used for a shop. 
A part of the lower story of the house was used for an 
office and medical-school. Among the students and 
graduates from this school may be mentioned Dr. 
Augustus Whiting, of Haverhill ; Dr. Simeon Whitney, 
of Framingham ; Dr. Joseph W. McKean, of Boston ; 
Dr. Charles Walker; Dr. J. G. Treadwell, of Salem; 
Dr. Francis A. Willard, whose office was for many years 
in the building in the Square where now is The Enter- 
prise office; Charles J. Bates, surgeon in the United 
States Navy and son of Dr. George Bates, former 
resident in town and for a long time naval-store keeper ; 
Dr. John O. Stone, a distinguished surgeon in New York ; 
Dr. Morrill Wyman, the eminent physician of Cambridge 
and professor in Harvard College ; Dr. Henry Lyon, our 
highly valued townsman ; Dr. Herman E. Davidson, a 
Charlestown boy, afterwards for many years the leading 
physician in Gloucester, Massachusetts ; Dr. Howland 
Holmes, of Lexington ; Dr. Charles Stearns, of New 
York ; Dr. John A. Briggs, of Newburyport ; Drs. 
Richard F. Young, Gideon F. Barstow, and Francis 
Kurd. 



2o8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Doctor Walker was sagacious and far-seeing as a 
business man, and his interest in the paying enterprises 
of his time was large. His accumulations were con- 
stant, and he died a rich man. Before his death he had 
given away to colleges and literary institutions nearly 
half a million dollars, and the bequests in his will for 
similar purposes amounted, perhaps, to as much more. 
Tufts and Amherst colleges, the Boston Natural History 
Society, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
were large sharers in these gifts and legacies. He died 
in Newport, Rhode Island, April 2, 1865, when he was 
seventy-five years old. An obituary at the time in The 
Bunker Hill Aurora reads as follows : 

Doctor Walker was eminent both as a physician and 
surgeon, and when he retired from practice in the latter 
profession probably his superior in adroitness, skill, and 
genius was not to be found in the country. He was an 
excellent English, French, and Latin scholar, well-read 
in the classics, an original and profound thinker. He 
was quick and zealous in everything he undertook ; a 
man of strong feelings and passions ; emphatic and 
almost unchangeable in his likes and dislikes. He was 
kind and generous to the poor, and many in this city 
will long remember him and his services with respect and 
gratitude. He was tolerant of all opinions in religious 
matters. 

In 1845 Doctor Walker delivered the annual address 
before the Massachusetts Medical Society. The address 
was published in a pamphlet of over one hundred pages, 
as " An Essay on the Treatment of Compound Fractures," 
and was considered at the time, with its reports of many 
cases in his own practice, as a very valuable addition to 
surgical science. Doctor Walker held a very vigorous 
pen, but its power was rarely exercised for the public 
eye. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 209 

Another son of Major Walker was Dr. Charles Walker. 
After his death his wife (a daughter of Colonel Samuel 
Jaques) and two of their daughters were residents in 
town for some years and were highly esteemed in social 
circles. 

Two of the daughters of Major Walker were married 
to physicians — Dr. Augustus Whiting, of Haverhill, 
and Dr. Simeon Whitney, of Framingham. Doctor 
Whiting, the father of our respected townsman. Dr. 
John S. Whiting, resided and practised in Charlestown 
for some years previous to his death. 

Another daughter was the wife of Honorable Samuel 
T. Armstrong, who early in his Hfe carried on the print- 
ing business in the brick building on Main Street where 
now William P. Henry keeps a provision-store. This 
building was erected by James C. Edmands about 1808, 
and in its upper story, which was called Edmands Hall, 
the meetings of the First Universalist Society were held 
previous to the building of their church, which was 
dedicated September 3, 181 1. The first numbers of 
The Panoplisty a monthly magazine devoted to religious 
subjects, especially to the promotion of missionary enter- 
prise, were published here by Mr. Armstrong. He 
afterwards removed to Boston and was for many years 
a noted printer and book publisher on Washington 
Street, near where the new Ames building is now being 
erected. His store there was originally known as No. 
50 Comhill, a portion of that street being afterwards 
made a part of Washington Street. It was the head- 
quarters of religious literature for the orthodox churches. 
Uriel Crocker and Osmyn Brewster were at first his 
apprentices, then his partners, and afterwards his 



2IO OLD CHARLESTOWN 

successors in the business, which was continued in the 
same place under the well-known firm name of Crocker 
& Brewster for the long period of fifty-eight years, from 
1818 to 1876. Mr. Armstrong was one of the early 
commanders of the Warren Phalanx, a famous military 
organization in Charlestown, chartered in 1804. He was 
lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts for two terms, and 
acting governor for ten months in 1835, when Governor 
Davis resigned to take his seat in the Senate of the 
United States. In 1836 he was mayor of the city of 
Boston, and for several years previous to this he was 
president of the Mechanics* Charitable Association. 

One of the daughters of Major Walker was the wife 
of Increase Sumner Wheeler, president of the Framing- 
ham Bank. Another daughter was the wife of Cap- 
tain Eleazer Edes Bradshaw, so long a resident on 
Main Street in the brick building built by him for a 
residence and now used by M. J. Enright as a picture- 
store. Miss Lucy Walker, a younger daughter, will be 
remembered for her active interest in the Unitarian 
Church and in the benevolent work of the town and city. 
The youngest son of Major Walker, Rev. Henry Walker, 
was a graduate of Harvard College (1830). He died Feb- 
ruary 17, 1838, when he was twenty-nine years old. 

We have referred to meetings held in Edmands Hall 
in the early days of Universalism in Charlestown. 
Hosea Ballou, Edward Turner, and Sebastian Streeter 
were heard many times in that upper chamber. Abner 
Kneeland was the stated preacher at the time these 
meetings were held. It required some courage to attend 
them. It was looked upon by the pious people of that 
day as a dangerous thing to do, and a pretty strict watch 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 211 

was kept to see who would dare to countenance such an 
unholy movement. *'When we passed the houses of 
these good people," said an old lady to the writer, "we 
felt that we v/ere being marked as wicked persons, and 
we were often told that what we heard in that hall would 
work only ruin for us, here and hereafter." A prominent 
deacon in the town, who had married a widow, was very 
kind to her children, one of whom was an especial favorite 
with him ; but the kiss of affection was denied to the 
child forever after he had learned that she had attended 
some of these meetings. A good story is told of a visit 
of one of a committee appointed to ascertain, by inquiry 
at the residences of the people, who were being led astray 
by this new movement. "Are there any sinners in this 
house } " he asked the good woman who occupied it. 
"Yes," she replied, "we all are sinners, and if you are 
coming in there will be one more." 

One of the good deacons, whose brother-in-law and 
partner in business attended and was interested in these 
meetings of the Universalists, was reproving him for his 
heresy, when he was interrupted by the remark, ** My 
dear brother, I cannot look upon this movement as you 
do." " Don't you * brother ' me when we are discussing 
religious matters ! " angrily exclaimed the deacon. 
"Don't call me brother!" 

It is well, perhaps, for us to contrast the narrowness 
of that time with the liberality of to-day ; at any rate, 
to appreciate and value highly the excellent spirit gen- 
erally shown among the religious denominations of the 
present time. 

December 28, 1889. 



212 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXXV 
A Chapter of History 

Suggested by the Death of Professor Bowen — The Alford 
Professorship in Harvard College. 



THE death of Professor Bowen, of Harvard College, 
suggests a chapter of historical notes of Charles- 
town and Charlestown people which will, I think, 
be interesting to some readers. 

Professor Bowen filled for a long period the position 
of Alford professor of natural religion, moral philosophy, 
and civil polity in Harvard College. That professorship 
was founded by John Alford, who died in Charlestown, 
September 29, 1761, leaving a will in which he directed 
that a certain portion of his estate should be devoted to 
" pious and charitable purposes," the selection of those 
purposes to be determined by his executors. This 
bequest was afterwards divided by the executors equally 
between Harvard College, Princeton College, and the 
Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians. 
Harvard College received its proportion, ;£i 362.8.5, 
Massachusetts currency, in 1765. This gift and its 
accumulation was the foundation of the professorship I 
have referred to, which was established, and the first 
professor appointed, during the presidency of Dr. John 
T. Kirkland. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 213 

John Alford, while he Uved in Charlestown, held a 
good deal of real-estate in the town, a portion of which 
was in the vicinity of the street which now bears his 
name. He was a man of prominence and had been in 
the Colonial Council. The amount paid by his executors 
to Princeton College was probably the same as that to 
Harvard College, while that to the Society for the Prop- 
agation of the Gospel among the Indians, which they 
received in 1787, was ^10,675. 

In a former article I have referred to Rev. Dr. James 
Walker, who was the distinguished pastor of the Har- 
vard Church for twenty-one years previous to the settle- 
ment of Rev. Dr. ElHs. Doctor Walker left Charlestown 
to take the Alford professorship in Harvard College 
above referred to, which had been founded, as I have 
shown, by the bequest of a citizen of the old town of 
Charlestown; and he held this position from 1839 till 
1853, when he was elected president of the college. 

His successor in the professorship was Francis Bowen, 
who was born and spent his boyhood in Charlestown. 
The Boston Transcript of Wednesday, January 22, 1890, 
with a notice of the death of Mr. Bowen, gives a sketch 
of his life as follows : 

Professor Bowen was born at Charlestown, September 
8, 181 1. One of his grandfathers was a farmer in New 
Hampshire, the other a farmer in Connecticut. He was 
of a large family, and from an early age had to depend 
upon himself — at least to a considerable extent — for 
support. He studied for a while in the May hew School 
in this city, and afterwards he was a clerk in a publishing 
house here. In January, 1829, he entered Phillips 
Exeter Academy, and in August, 1830, he was admitted 
to the sophomore class at Harvard College, so well 



214 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

prepared was he already for the work of that class. He 
was graduated from Harvard in 1833, in the class with 
Professor Lovering, Professor Torrey, the late Professor 
Jeffries Torrey, his brother, and Dr. Morrill Wyman, of 
Cambridge. He then returned to Exeter as instructor 
in mathematics, and two years later he received the 
appointment of tutor in intellectual philosophy and 
political economy at Harvard. He left Harvard in 1839, 
when he visited Europe and spent a year in study and 
travel. In 1843 he succeeded Doctor Palfrey as editor 
and proprietor of The North American Review ^ which 
he conducted for eleven years. His unpopular views on 
the Hungarian question were challenged by the late 
Robert Carter of Boston, an early free-soiler and a warm 
admirer of Kossuth, and because of these and other 
unpopular opinions on political subjects the Harvard 
overseers failed to confirm Mr. Bowen's appointment as 
McLean professor of history. 

In 1853 he was appointed Alford professor of natural 
religion, moral philosophy, and civil polity, and continued 
in active service until about ten years ago, when he 
reduced the amount of his lecturing about one-half. He 
gave his remaining courses regularly up to the time of 
his resignation, early in December, 1889. He contrib- 
uted four lives to Sparks' " Library of American Biog- 
raphy," and in 1842 he published an edition of Virgil, 
and a volume of essays on philosophical subjects ; other 
works from his hand are " Documents of the Constitu- 
tion of England and America from Magna Charta to the 
Federal Constitution of 1789," "Principles of Political 
Economy Applied to the Condition, Resources, and Insti- 
tutions of the American People," " A Treatise on Logic," 
"American Political Economy," "Modern Philosophy 
from Descartes to Schopenhauer and Hartmann," and 
" Gleanings of a Literary Life." As an editor he issued 
many valuable volumes, including the essays of Sir 
William Hamilton, Dugald Stewart's " Philosophy of the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 215 

Human Mind," and De Tocqueville's " Democracy in 
America." In his views on political economy Professor 
Bowen was opposed to Adam Smith, Ricardo, and 
Malthus, and drew an elaborate answer to his theories of 
philosophy from Mill in a later edition of the " Logic." 
He received the degree of doctor of laws in 1879. 
Within the past five years he had served on a United 
States commission, for which he prepared a report on 
silver. In his college work he was indefatigable and was 
a prompt and constant attendant at lectures. Professor 
Bowen was one of the popular lecturers of the Lowell 
Institute. He gave a series of lectures on the " Relation 
of Science to Religion" in i849-'50, and afterwards 
gave several series of lectures on *' Political Economy," 
one on "American and English Constitutions," and 
another on the " Later English Philosophers." 

February i, 1890. 



2i6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XXXVI 
The Name of Austin 

It Appeared Very Early and Has Held a Prominent Position 
in the History of Charlestown — Nathaniel Austin — 
William Austin. 

VERY early in the history of Charlestown the name 
of Austin appears among its inhabitants, and all 
along from that time until the present it has held 
a prominent position. Richard Austin, who came here 
some time previous to 1659, "^^.s the ancestor of the 
Austins in Charlestown and of those in Boston, many 
of whom have been distinguished for intelligence, patriot- 
ism, and thriftiness. Richard Austin's name is on the 
list of those who shared in a division of land by the 
town in 1659, ^^^^ <^^ the list of freemen in 1677. His 
sons and grandsons were active and enterprising business 
men, some of them officials in the town, and, just before 
the Revolution in 1775, they were especially useful as 
members of patriotic committees, signers of remon- 
strances and petitions having a bearing upon the exciting 
questions of the day, and in urging the authorities to 
active measures of resistance to the abuses of the crown. 
The names of Timothy, John, John Jr., Nathaniel, 
Samuel, and Joseph Austin, citizens of Charlestown, can 
be found on these papers, and Samuel and Benjamin 
Austin, of Boston, were among the most patriotic in that 
town in the early days of the Revolution. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 217 

Richard Austin had a son, Ebenezer, who was con- 
nected with the Spragues by marriage, and who was a 
large holder of real-estate in the town. Among his es- 
tates were a warehouse and wharf which were bequeathed 
to his son, the second Ebenezer, who was the father of 
Nathaniel, a pewterer by trade, a man of intelligence 
and enterprise, who accumulated and left a large prop- 
erty, chiefly in real-estate. Nathaniel's wife was the 
daughter of Doctor Isaac Rand, a man of note belonging 
to another old Charlestown family. His sons were 
General Nathaniel, Isaac, William, and David ; his 
daughters were Margaret, the wife of Isaac Brooks, of 
Medford, and Mary, wife of Dr. Samuel Adams. 

General Nathaniel Austin was one of the best-known 
men in Charlestown ; and he was widely known out of 
the town as a public official. He represented the town 
in the Legislature as a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in 1812, 1831, and 1838; the County of 
Middlesex as senator in 1832 and 1835, and he was a 
member of the Governor's Council in 1836. He was a 
Federalist, and the opposition candidate in 1 8 1 2 was his 
brother William, a Democrat. The canvass was con- 
ducted with great energy but with perfect good nature 
on the part of both. Only one vote decided the election 
between them. 

Nathaniel held the office of brigadier-general of the 
third division, Massachusetts Militia, between 181 5 and 
1820, and was high sheriff of the County of Middlesex 
for eighteen years, from 18 14 to 1832. Carrying out 
the sentence of death for Mike Martin, alias Captain 
Lightfoot, "the last of the highwaymen,'' as he is called 
in Drake's "New England Legends and Folk-Lore," was 



2i8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

one of his experiences while in this position. Martin 
had been a highwayman in Ireland, his native country, 
and was a fugitive in America. He was hanged for the 
robbery of Major John Bray on Medford Turnpike as 
the Major was returning home from a dinner-party at 
Governor Brooks' in Medford. The late Philip Hichbom, 
who died a few months ago, heard the story of the 
robbery from Major Bray's own lips the afternoon it took 
place. The Major, who was on his return to Boston, 
stopped at the carriage-factory of Nathan Lynde, on 
Main Street, where young Hichborn was apprenticed, 
and related what had happened : — the sudden appear- 
ance of a masked man, on horseback, who presented a 
pistol and demanded his valuables ; the giving up of his 
watch and pocket-book, and the escape of the robber. 

General Austin lived for many years in the building 
at the junction of Main and Harvard streets which was 
built by him of stone brought from the outer Brewster 
Island in Boston Harbor. He also built the house on 
Town Hill, now occupied by the Charlestown Dispensary, 
of the same kind of stone. He owned this island at the 
time, and had constructed an artificial harbor there by 
cutting a canal through the rock and closing it with a 
gate. He commenced the quarrying of stone for build- 
ing purposes, but this was an unsuccessful enterprise in 
that locality. It was " whistling against the wind." He 
erected a small house and barn on the island, and when 
the stone-business failed tried the experiment of raising 
sheep and cattle. Later, for many summers, a small 
crop of hay was cut under his personal superintendence. 
All the while, he was unprofitably employed, but it was 
only tardily and reluctantly that he reached the conclu- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 219 

sion that "the game was not worth the candle." When 
the Warren Bridge was macadamized a portion of the 
stone used was brought from "the home of the east 
wind," as the outer Brewster has sometimes been 
called. 

General Austin was a strong advocate of and worker 
for free bridges. He made many speeches and spent 
much time before legislative committees in the interest of 
the town and city, when the building, support, and care of 
the bridges was under consideration ; and he was one of 
the commissioners for rebuilding the Charles River and 
Warren bridges. 

Judging from the positions held by him, General 
Austin must have been a popular young man. He had 
strong natural powers, was gifted in speech, and was 
always looked upon ' as an earnest, honest man. In 
advanced life he was cheerful and entertaining, and was 
very generally liked by those who came in contact with 
him. He was never married, and for many years spent 
much time in the old Exchange news-room under the 
Bunker Hill Bank, in the Square. Here, for a quarter 
of a century or more, the affairs of the town and city 
were closely looked after ; the political, reUgious, busi- 
ness, and social questions of the day were fully discussed, 
and, as usual with such institutions, there was no end of 
gossip. Men of all classes and all shades of opinion met 
together here, and sharp-shooting was a practice allowable 
and common. In the news-room the General was surely 
a character, and a large share of real enjoyment for his 
associates was properly placed to his credit. A chapter 
devoted exclusively to the news-room, and to several 
other similar associations in the town, would be inter- 
esting. 



220 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

William Austin graduated from Harvard College in 
1798, when he was twenty years old, in the class with 
William Ellery Channing and Joseph Story. In 1801 
he delivered an oration before the Artillery Company, 
on the battle of Bunker Hill. He was abroad in 1802 
and 1803, and wrote letters from London which were 
printed in 1804 and read with much interest. In 1805 
he was wounded in a duel with James H. Elliot, the 
trouble growing out of a political newspaper altercation. 
In the religious controversy, early in the century, he was 
in sympathy with the Unitarians, and in 1807 there was 
published from his pen "An Essay on the Human 
Character of Jesus Christ." His famous story of ** Peter 
Rugg, the Missing Man," appeared originally in The 
New England Galaxy. This story, never forgotten and 
still interesting, can be found in " New England Legends 
and Folk-Lore," published in 1884. Another paper 
written by Mr. Austin, entitled "The Late Joseph 
Natterstrone," which attracted much attention, was 
printed in TJie New Englaiid Magazine. 

Mr. Austin was a lawyer by profession, and was 
eminent at the bar of Suffolk and Middlesex. He was 
a prominent man in the Massachusetts Legislature, 
representing Chariest own in the lower branch in 181 1, 
'14, '16, '2^^ and '34, and the County of Middlesex in 
the Senate in 1821-23. He was also a member of the 
Constitutional Convention in 1820. His residence for 
many years was on Main Street, in the old building next 
to Doctor Whiting's which was taken down in 1888. 
From this place Mr. Austin removed to the house on 
the corner of High and Wood streets, now the home of 
the family of his son, the late Francis B. Austin. The 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 221 

building referred to, on Main Street, was sold by Mr. 
Austin to Catherine Carleton, who occupied it for a long 
period as a millinery and fancy dry-goods store. Her 
stock in trade was a marvel for excellence of selection 
and variety, and a real blessing to the ladies of the town 
for more than half a century. Connected with the busi- 
ness of this store was a circulating library, fully stocked 
with light reading, the value of which may not have been 
so unanimously assented to, but which was always largely 
patronized. 

William Austin was a man of determination, which 
was shown as occasion called for it. Along High Street, 
between Elm and Cordis Streets, there stood formerly 
several remarkably large and fine elm-trees. One of 
these, the grandest of all, was in the middle of the street, 
opposite the head of Wood Street, and nearly in front of 
the Austin mansion. There came a time when the 
selectmen of the town looked upon it as an obstruction 
to travel, and by vote they directed the superintendent 
of streets to cut it down. One pleasant morning Cap- 
tain James Deblois, who was then at the head of the 
street department, appeared with his men provided with 
axes to carry out the order. Mr. Austin, who had been 
made aware of what was to be done, had risen early and 
taken a position by the tree as its defender. 

" I understand," he remarked to Captain Deblois, 
" that you are here intending to destroy this beautiful 
tree." 

" That is so," replied the Captain. " I have a copy 
of the vote of the board of selectmen authorizing and 
directing me to cut it down, and I shall obey orders." 

" But you are not authorized, sir," said Mr. Austin, 



222 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

" to chop off my legs, which will have to be done before 
the blade of an axe touches this tree." 

" Squire Austin/' said Captain Deblois, " I have great 
respect for you as a man and as a lawyer ; but you know 
you have no right to place yourself in this position, and, 
if you persist, you must take the consequences." 

" Ah, sir," said Mr. Austin, " I am prepared for that. 
I shall defend the tree and defend myself, and it is you 
who must take the consequences if you advance one step 
farther in this wicked business. And you have lived 
long enough in the town with me, Captain Deblois, to 
know that I am in earnest." 

While this incident was going on around the tree, a 
remonstrance which had been signed by many citizens 
had reached the chairman of the selectmen, who soon 
appeared on the spot to stay proceedings ; and on his 
assurance that nothing further would be done until after 
a hearing of the remonstrants. Squire Austin left his 
post at the tree and went home to a late breakfast. The 
old tree was not disturbed for years after, but grew on, 
admired and appreciated by all lovers of the grand and 
beautiful, a continued joy to its defender as long as he 
lived. William Austin died at his home on High Street, 
June 27, 1 841, aged sixty-three years. 

March 22, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 223 



XXXVII 
The Austin Family 

Arthur, Henry, Francis, and James Austin. 

THE eldest son of William Austin was called by his 
parents Isaac, but he afterwards had his name 
legally changed to Arthur Williams. He wa^ 
born in Charlestown in March, 1807; was fitted for 
college by Abraham Andrews at the academy, or school, 
kept by him on Cordis Street ; entered Harvard Univer- 
sity at the age of fourteen, and graduated in 1825. He 
taught a district school before he was sixteen years old, 
and for two winters thereafter. He studied law with 
his father, and with Honorable Eli K. Price, of Phila- 
delphia, and commenced its practice in Charlestown in 
1828, when he was twenty-one years old. In 1836 he 
was chairman of the selectmen, and distinguished him- 
self by reforming and reorganizing the fire department. 
He was postmaster in the town from 1834 to 1839, 
when he was succeeded by William Sawyer. 

He was a Democrat in politics until 1840, when he 
switched off with the disaffected crowd and took an 
active part in the hard cider, "Tippecanoe and Tyler 
too " campaign ; but he got back again under the 
standard of Polk, Texas, and the Mexican War, and gave 
his decided support to Mr. Cass in 1848. He moved 
from Charlestown to West Roxbury, where he was one 



224 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of the leaders of the Democratic party and its candidate 
for Congress in the Norfolk district in 1852 and 1856. 
He was appointed collector of the port of Boston and 
Charlestown and held the position for some years during 
the administration of President Buchanan. He was an 
outspoken opponent of the Civil War, and said of it, in 
reply to a request to join in a college memorial, *' I early 
laid it down as a principle that I would not in any 
voluntary way, shape, or manner contribute to the late 
infamous war, and I cannot in any way seek to com- 
memorate it." 

In West Roxbury he selected and purchased land in 
a romantic and wild location, and by the labor of years 
and a large expenditure of money changed it into a 
highly cultivated and ornamental farm, garden, and place 
of residence. He took great interest in carrying on this 
farm, and great pleasure in showing it to his friends, and 
he became prominent in the agricultural affairs of Nor- 
folk County. The farm was afterwards purchased of 
him by the city of Boston as a home for the poor, and 
is now used as a retreat for persons suffering from a 
mild form of insanity. 

Mr. Austin was rugged and strong physically, of 
sanguine temperament, quick in motion, very active and 
industrious; a bold man in the expression of his own 
opinions, but severe in his judgment of others, and too 
positive for lasting popularity or influence. He gained 
the full confidence of his friends as an able lawyer and 
an energetic business man, and was the executor and 
trustee of many large estates. He died August, 1884, 
and in his will bequeathed to the University of Virginia 
a large part of his property. The plan of government 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 225 

and system of instruction in this college were due to 
Thomas Jefferson, and on his tombstone is the inscrip- 
tion placed there at his request : " Author of the Decla- 
ration of Independence and of the statute of Virginia 
for religious freedom, and father of the University of 
Virginia." 

Henry D. Austin, another son of William, was a 
graduate of Harvard College in 1839, ^^^ will be 
remembered for his active interest and ownership in 
Charlestown real-estate, which he held until his death 
only a few years ago. He was a lawyer by profession, 
a single man, and his residence the last years of his life 
was in a neighboring town, but he kept his office in the 
city and almost every day could be seen in its streets, 
busy with the management and improvement of property 
which he had the courage to purchase and hold as a safe 
and profitable investment. 

But few men have ever been more favorably known 
in Charlestown than the late Francis B. Austin, another 
son of William Austin. A quiet gentleman, of strictest 
integrity, who followed the course marked out for him 
in life with uniform success, he was fully entitled to the 
highest respect and confidence of his neighbors and 
friends. With an uncommonly open and attractive face, 
and a heartiness of manner which at once assured you 
of sincerity, his greetings stirred up reciprocal feeling 
and always gave great pleasure. Generous in his judg- 
ments of others, he was modest in the expression of his 
own opinions, yet decided in his views and ready to carry 
them out by prompt and efficient action. Mr. Austin 
was brought up as a merchant, commencing his business 
career in a wholesale dry-goods store, but was afterwards 



ii6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

engaged in the iron and steel trade, at first with his 
brother-in-law, George S. Whiting, a former resident of 
Charlestown, and later as the head of the well-known 
house of F. B. Austin & Co., of Boston. He was a 
member of the board of trustees of the Warren Institu- 
tion for Savings, and of Harvard Unitarian Society, in 
which he took a very active interest. He was ever 
mindful of the welfare of the town and city, but could 
not be prevailed upon to take public office, choosing 
rather to serve faithfully in the ranks. He had a large 
and continually increasing interest in the real-estate of 
the district, and in the numerous buildings erected by 
him there is ample evidence left of his enterprise and 
superior judgment in its management. 

Honorable James Walker Austin, a lawyer of high 
standing in Boston, is also a son of the late William 
Austin. After graduating from Harvard College in 
1849, he spent some years in the Hawaiian Islands and 
was an associate justice of the Supreme Court there.* 
He married a daughter of Honorable John S. Sleeper, 
a resident of Charlestown for some years while he was 
of the firm of Sleeper, Dix & Rogers, publishers of The 
Boston Jottrnal. Mr. Sleeper afterwards removed to 
Roxbury and was one of the mayors of that city. 

William Austin's daughters were the wives of Rev. 
James Thurston, William Prescott Dexter (son of Hon- 
orable Franklin Dexter), and George S. Whiting. Mrs. 
Whiting was well known for the deep interest shown by 



* Soon after this was written, an interesting book entitled " Literary 
Papers of William Austin, with a Biographical Sketch by his son, James 
Walker Austin," was published by Little & Brown, in 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 227 

her in the Old Ladies' Home and as an active worker in 
most of the benevolent associations in the district. 

The Austin family, from first to last, have been the 
owners of a great deal of real-estate in the old town. 
The homes of the earlier members of the family were in 
Charlestown Square. The Bunker Hill National Bank 
building covers a lot on which one of their houses for- 
merly stood, and Abbotsford Hall, with a part of the 
Waverley House, another. Tudor's Wharf was formerly 
Austin's Wharf, and another wharf bearing the same 
name and belonging to General Nathaniel Austin was 
on the creek which formerly ran up from the river in the 
rear of the State Prison nearly to Main Street. The 
entrance to this wharf was from Austin Street. The 
Austins had estates at the Neck, near the Mill Pond, and 
along Main Street. A large portion of the Bunker Hill 
Monument grounds was purchased of them by the asso- 
ciation, and on the Mystic-river shore their land-holding 
was very considerable. 

Within the writer's recollection, a good deal of the 
territory between Cross, High, Elm, and Bartlett streets 
was Squire Austin's pasture. The boys of that day 
remember it as a place on which they were allowed to 
assemble a§ a playground, where foot-ball, base-ball, high 
and low rickets, kite-flying, bird-trapping, and so forth, 
each had its season. There was a pond in the lowest 
part of this pasture, on which in the winter large gather- 
ings of young people enjoyed the healthful exercise of 
skating. Sometimes, late in the summer, marsh birds 
on their way south from their breeding-places in 
the north would drop down and make a halt here. 
Flocks of yellow-shanks running along the margin of 



228 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

this little pond, within a hundred feet of Elm Street, 
are remembered to have been seen, and some of them 
were wickedly shot. 

These facts doubtless seem strange and incredible to 
the young people of to-day, but there are a few of us 
left who remember when, from High Street to the river, 
there were no buildings save a small bam half-way down 
Elm Street, and, well on towards the shore, in a lane 
which is now included in Everett Street, a little one-story 
house, painted yellow, occupied by John Cavill, twine- 
maker, and another, never painted, the home of old Mr. 
Rice, the glue-manufacturer. Very near these houses 
was the " old cellar," where clams, dug on the beach, and 
vegetables, taken from the almshouse garden near by, — 
sometimes with leave, but oftener, I fear, without, — 
were baked and eaten with great gusto by roguish boys 
on vacation-days. 

The laying out of Green and Bartlett streets,' and the 
cutting up of the pastures into house-lots, will do to tell 
about in some other chapter. 

April 12, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 229 



XXXVIII 

The Bridge Family 

Its High Standing — Matthew Bridge — Samuel J. Bridge — 
The Family Estate on Town Hill — Lafayette* s Second 
Visit to Charlestown. 

THE first chapter in this collection contained a 
description of the Dexter estate, a portion of 
which is now the headquarters of Abraham Lin- 
coln Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. A good 
deal was said in it about Nathan Bridge, one of its 
former occupants, who took great interest in the garden 
connected with it and made it famous. He was the son 
of Matthew Bridge, who came to Charlestown from 
Lexington in 1785, and who lived here from that time 
until his death, November 24, 18 14, when he was sixty- 
six years old. In September, 1882, Samuel J. Bridge, 
who also was for some years a resident of Charlestown, 
presented to the City of Cambridge the statue of his 
ancestor, John Bridge, the Pilgrim, which was unveiled 
with imposing ceremonies November 28, 1882, and now 
stands on Cambridge Common. Matthew Bridge was a 
descendant of this Pilgrim pioneer who settled in Cam- 
bridge, then called Newtown, in 1632, and whose record 
as a citizen of that town for thirty years shows him to 
be fully worthy of the memorial statue which has been 
set up in his honor. 



230 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

In 1884 a book of one hundred and twenty pages, 
"An Account of the Descendants of John Bridge," was 
published, which shows the high standing of the family 
in New England and in the country. A summing up of 
the record appears in a letter of Samuel J. Bridge to 
another of the descendants, which I have seen in print. 
In it is given a long list of public offices, national and 
State, which have been held by members of this family, 
including a president of the United States (Garfield) and 
other high officials, and concludes with the remark which 
would seem to be fully warranted, " No family in New 
England can show a better record." 

Matthew Bridge, of Charlestown, was a merchant and 
ship-owner. The firm of which he was the head are 
said to have sent out the first copper-bottomed vessels 
from the port of Boston and Charlestown. He was 
prominent in the affairs of the town, holding important 
public offices. He was in the Legislature as represent- 
ative from Charlestown in 1803 and 1808, and in the 
Senate in 1809 and 1812. He was a large holder of 
real-estate and a man of much property for his time. 
His residence was on Town Hill, now Harvard Street, 
in the large and handsome wooden house which, with its 
grounds, was purchased by Moses A. Dow and taken 
down to give place to several brick buildings erected by 
him on Harvard Street and Harvard Place. 

The grounds connected with the Bridge estate formerly 
extended nearly to the Square, and were used for a 
garden and kept in attractive order. They were higher 
than the street and protected by a stone wall running 
along it. In the garden were many fine trees — among 
them several English walnuts, the only trees of this kind 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 231 

I have ever heard of in town.* The boys of the neigh- 
borhood, it is believed, were somewhat troublesome to 
the family when the fruit of these trees was nearly ready 
for picking. 

Before Matthew Bridge died in 18 14, the brick house 
now generally known as the home of the late Francis 
Childs was built by him in the lower part of this garden, 
and was occupied by his son-in-law, Seth Knowles. Mr. 
Bridge left three children — Alice, the wife of Eben 
Baker ; Nathan, mentioned at the beginning of this 
article ; and Sallie — Mrs. Knowles. By his will he 
gave his mansion-house estate to Mrs. Baker, the new 
brick house on Town Hill to Mrs. Knowles, and to the 
children of his son Nathan the estate on Green Street 
occupied by their father. He had other estates, which 
were given to the children, but these were specially 
mentioned and given to them as homes. Mrs. Baker 
remained in her father's mansion as long as she lived — 
until January, 1858 ; and Mr. Dow got his title to the 
estate from her heirs. Mrs. Baker had two sons — 
Matthew, who was a physician in Springfield, Massachu- 
setts, and Ebenezer, before referred to as a student in 
the civil-engineering office of Samuel M. Felton. 

The office of The Charlestown Enterprise is in a 
building which belonged to the estate of Mrs. Baker 



* After the above was first printed I received a pleasant note from 
my friend, I. P. T. Edmands, in which he informed me that there was a 
large English walnut-tree in the garden of the estate on Salem Street 
owned and occupied by him some years ago, which he supposed was the 
only one in this region. He gave it especial care on this account, and 
at the time of its last bearing kept some of the nuts in memory of the 
tree. The land on which it grew was, I think, originally a part of the 
Harrison or Baldwin estate. 



232 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

and her father, Matthew Bridge, and which has a marked 
history if it could all be told. 

Nathan Bridge, the brother of Mrs. Baker, and his 
family are particularly mentioned in the article on the 
Dexter estate. 

Seth Knowles, the husband of SalHe Bridge, was a 
merchant and for many years a noted man in the 
town. He represented it in the Legislature in 1816, 
i822-'23; was in the Senate in 1824-25, and was a 
member of the Convention in 1820. He lived in the 
brick house on Town Hill (Harvard Street), to which 
reference has been made, from the time it .was built till 
about 1830, when he removed to Boston. There was a 
fine garden belonging to this homestead. To stop to 
admire the good taste displayed in the arrangement of 
its flower-beds was common for passers-by. 

Referring to this garden. Dr. Abraham R. Thompson 
used to tell a good story about a highly respected deacon 
of one of the churches in the town. One day in early 
summer, when the sky was clear and the air balmy, the 
doctor was making his morning round on horse-back, and 
drew up by the side of the deacon who was looking 
through the open fence at this garden. 

*' Good morning, neighbor ! " said the doctor. ** This 
is very bright, sunny weather for the gardens, and we 
ought to thank Mr. Knowles for this fine show of 
beautiful plants and flowers, and for his generosity in 
providing for the public enjoyment." 

"Yes," said the deacon, "this is a very pretty show; 
but is it wise to spend so much time and money on such 
frivolous things ? It seems as if our friend's thought 
should be on more serious matters." 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 233 

" I have never looked upon flowers as frivolous 
things," replied the doctor, "or questioned the wisdom 
of the Almighty in scattering them so profusely over 
the face of Nature. There is scarcely a spot of earth 
that does not send up some bright little flower to 
quicken love and to cheer us on the pathway of life; 
not a nook or cranny, even, where — '* 

"True, true," interrupted the deacon; "that is a 
point I had not considered. Yes, I think Mr. Knowles 
is very kind to place his beautiful flower-bed where 
passers-by can enjoy it." 

The spurs pressed lightly upon the sides of his horse 
as the doctor rode away, and the deacon was left to 
enjoy the flowers and to sigh less over the errors of his 
friend Knowles. 

Mr. Knowles was one of the founders of the Harvard 
Unitarian Church, one of the first board of directors of 
the Bunker Hill Bank, and one of the original members 
of the Bunker Hill Monument Association and of its 
first board of directors. He had much to do with the 
negotiations for the purchase of land, and was also on 
the building-committee. On the morning of the day 
when the corner-stone of the monument was laid, June 
17, 1825, — the occasion of a grand celebration made 
forever memorable by a visit from General Lafayette and 
the eloquent address of Daniel Webster, — the Knowles 
mansion was thrown open for the reception of the ladies ; 
and in a very interesting book by Josiah Quincy, pub- 
lished in 1883, entitled "Figures of the Past," there is 
an account of this reception, taken from a journal kept 
by a sister of Mr. Quincy. She says : 



234 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

On arriving at Charlestown we drove to the house of 
Mr. Knowles (one of the marshals) where it had been 
arranged that the ladies should assemble. All the rooms 
of the house were crowded with company and we were 
received with great kindness and civility by its mistress. 
The ladies vied with each other in the elegance of their 
dresses, and their variety afforded us ample entertain- 
ment during the hour we passed there, before we were 
permitted to secure our places to hear the oration. We 
found foreigners and strangers from all parts of the 
Union ; among them, of course, many of our acquaint- 
ances — Mrs. Webster, Miss Sedgwick, Mr. Daniel 
Wadsworth, and others. The latter is a gentleman of 
taste and cultivation. He spoke with great enthusiasm 
of the visit of Lafayette to this country. " I was in the 
carriage with the General," said he, "when he entered 
Hartford. Lafayette was describing to me the sufferings 
he underwent at Olmutz, when we came to a place where 
the crowd had collected to welcome him. His descrip- 
tion was rendered inaudible by the cheers which rent the 
air. Lafayette bowed to the people, and then turning to I 
me said with emphasis, * These are indeed the extremes 
of human life ! * To which I replied, * They are ex- 
tremes which no mortal but you have been permitted to 
behold.' " 

After Mr. Knowles removed to Boston the house 
became the residence of Edward Everett, concerning 
whom, and its other occupants, something may be said 
in subsequent pages. 

April 26, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 23s 



XXXIX 

The Statue of Harvard 

The Gift of Samuel J. Bridge — Address of Dr. George E. Ellis. 

IN the previous chapter I alluded to the statue of John 
Bridge, the Pilgrim pioneer, and to Samuel J. Bridge, 
for some years a citizen of Charlestown, who presented 
it to the city of Cambridge. I desire now to say some- 
thing concerning another statue interesting to Charles- 
town people inasmuch as it perpetuates the memory of 
an early citizen of the town whose love for learning and 
whose generosity made him the founder of Harvard 
College. The statue of John Harvard, in the grounds 
of the college in Cambridge, was the gift of Samuel J. 
Bridge, and to him are we indebted for whatever of 
pleasure and gratification the fact of its erection affords 
us. 

It may be interesting to make some further reference 
to the history of this statue. At a dinner of the Alumni 
of Harvard University on commencement day, June 27, 
1883, the presiding officer read the following letter : 

To THE President and Fellows of Harvard 

College : 

Gentlemen — I have the pleasure of offering to you an 

ideal statue in bronze, representing your founder, the 

Rev. John Harvard, to be designed by Daniel C. French, 



236 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of Concord, and to be placed in the south end of the 
inclosure in which Memorial Hall stands. If you do me 
the honor to accept this offer, I propose to contract at 
once for the work, including an appropriate pedestal; 
and I am assured that the same can be in place by June 
I, 1884. I am, with much respect, 

Samuel J. Bridge. 

Dr. George E. Ellis, who was present and one of the 
speakers at the dinner, referring to the subject, said : 

It is delightful for me to have heard for the first time 
this day that one of my boys [turning to Mr. Bridge], a 
member of Harvard Church Society in Charlestown, 
is to give to the college a statue. It must be an ideal 
one ; but our ideals, we are told, are always perfection ; 
and, if there ever ought to be a perfect exposition of a 
good and lovable man, it must be that of John Harvard. 

The ceremonies of unveiling the statue took place 
October 15, 1884, before a large audience in Sanders 
Theater and on the grounds where the statue was placed. 
Doctor Ellis, in behalf of Mr. Bridge and by official 
invitation, made the presentation speech. It will be 
needless for me to speak of its appropriateness, point, 
and eloquence, but I may with propriety, perhaps, quote 
a few extracts from it. Referring to Mr. Bridge, and to 
his acquaintance and friendship with him, which dated 
back more than forty years, he said : 

He has been a wide wanderer, a traveler in all lands, 
having more than once circled the globe. As a confi- 
dential agent of our government for many years on the 
Pacific coast, he faithfully discharged high trusts. He 
has liberally endowed many aids to education, and 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 237 

fostered many young men in their school and college 
course. Holding in venerating regard his descent from 
one of the first English settlers in this place, he has 
caused a representative statue of him, as a Pilgrim, to be 
planted near by us on the Common, a gift to the city. 
And now he has done a similar loving service to the 
college. The two statues commemorate two worthies 
of our earliest years, who doubtless met on this virgin 
soil ; and who, we can imagine, may now exchange from 
their metal enshroudings some grave recognitions. 

In a quotation which Doctor Ellis makes from the 
oldest extant document in type which clearly recognizes 
the existence of Harvard College, — a pamphlet pub- 
lished in London in 1643, entitled, " New England's 
First Fruits in Respect to the Progress of Learning in 
the College at Cambridge, in Massachusetts Bay," and 
so forth, — this mention of John Harvard is made : 

And as we were thinking and consulting how to effect 
this great work, it pleased God to stir up the heart of 
one Mr. Harvard (a godly gentleman and a lover of 
learning then Hving amongst us) to give the one-half of 
his estate (it being in all about jQiyoo) towards the 
erection of a college, and all his library. 

Referring to Mr. Harvard, Doctor Ellis says : 

He was admitted as an inhabitant of Charlestown in 
this Colony, August i, 1637. With Ann, his wife, he 
became a member of the church, which gave him the 
full rights of citizenship, November i, 1637. He 
received grants of land from the town and was a 
member of a committee on " providing some laws." He 
had built a comfortable dwelling, the site of which is 
known in Charlestown. It was occupied by the minister 



238 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of the town after his death. Chief Justice Sewall tells | 
us of his enjoying its hospitality on the night of January 
26, 1697, and of the pious and grateful memory of John 
Harvard which came to him in his chamber : " Jany. 26, 
1697, I lodged at Charlestown, at Mrs. Shepard's, who 
tells me Mr. Harvard built that house. I lay in the 
chamber next the street. As I lay awake past midnight 
in my meditation, I was affected to consider how long 
agoe God had made provision for my comfortable Lodg- 
ing that night, seeing that was Mr. Harvard's house. 
And that led me to think of Heaven, the House not 
made with hands which God for many Thousands of 
years has been storing with the richest furniture (saints 
that are from time to time placed there) and that I had 
some hopes of being entertain'd in that Magnificent, 
Convenient Palace, every way fitted and furnished. 
These thoughts were very refreshing to me." 

In another reference to Mr. Harvard, Doctor Ellis 
says : 

The young scholar and minister — hardly could he 
have been thirty years of age — felt upon him the touch 
of mortal disease. He thought of the property, consid- 
erable for those days, which he had left in England. By 
a nuncupative will preceding his death (September 24, 
1638, N. S.) he bequeathed the half of his estate to the 
college. No probate or administration on his will appears 
as having been made here. The college records appear 
to recognize the receipt of only half the amount of his 
bequest. The brooding troubles of the civil war in 
England may have hindered or impaired its transmission. 
We know him to have been beloved and honored, a 
well trained and accomplished scholar of the type then 
esteemed. There is a tender reverence in every early 
mention of him. It may be said of him, in the words 
of Cotton Mather of another, that he left his old English 
home and took New England on his way to heaven. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 239 

Not far from Charlestown Square stood the house 
built by John Harvard, in which Chief Justice Sewall, 
on the night of January 26, 1697, enjoyed the hospitaUty 
of Mrs. Shepard and was refreshed by his midnight 
meditations. It is good for us to dwell upon the mem- 
ory of John Harvard, and I am glad that we have a 
Harvard Church, Harvard School, Harvard Street, 
Harvard Square, and the Harvard monument in the old 
Phipps Street burial-ground to aid in keeping it alive and 
forever green. It is well frequently to refer to his noble 
qualities of mind and heart as an example to those who 
are continuing the history of the good old town, and 
upon whose intelligence and character its future reputa- 
tion must depend. 

In closing the ceremonies of unveiling the statue. 
President Eliot of the college made these remarks : 

It is my pleasant duty to declare that the University 
gratefully accepts the interesting and inspiring memorial 
of John Harvard which generosity and genius have con- 
spired to produce. The university counts of inestimable 
worth the lessons which this pure, gentle, resolute youth 
will teach as he sits in bronze looking wistfully into the 
western sky. He will teach that one disinterested deed 
of hope and faith may crown a brief and broken life with 
deathless fame. He will teach that the good which men 
do lives after them, fructified and multiplied beyond all 
power of measurement or computation. He will teach 
that from the seed which he planted in loneliness, weak- 
ness, and sorrow, have sprung joy, strength, and energy 
ever fresh, blooming year after year in this garden of 
learning, and flourishing more and more, as time goes on, 
in all fields of human activity. Let us go and look at 
the silent and impressive teacher. 



240 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

The statue was then uncovered, and the enthusiasm 
of the undergraduates of the college found expression 
in cheers nine times repeated ; then, with " 'rah ! 'rah ! 
'rah ! " as many times given, first for the donor and then 
for the sculptor, the ceremonies of the occasion were 
closed. 

Samuel J. Bridge was one of the original subscribers 
to the church erected for Starr King in San Francisco, 
California, and is a large contributor to the statue of Mr. 
King soon to be set up in Golden Gate Park. The 
writer had the pleasure, a few weeks ago, of looking at 
the model of this statue in the studio of the artist, Mr. 
French, in New York. It presents a pleasing and sat- 
isfactory likeness of Mr. King, and when cast in bronze 
it must be looked upon with favor as a fine work of art. 
When it is set up, it will commemorate the successful 
and useful life of a noble man whose genius and patriot- 
ism earned for him a world-wide fame. And will it not be 
pleasing to remember that his boyhood and young man- 
hood were spent in Charlestown ; that the development 
of his charming character and wonderful powers of mind 
was commenced here ; that his attractive personal qual- 
ities were enjoyed here for years, and that his interest 
in the place, and in the friends who remained in it, was 
never lost } 

The early days of Thomas Starr King, his life in 
Charlestown, and his promise of growth at that time, 
must be the subject of notice later on. 

May io, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 241 



XL 
Edward Everett 

Elected Governor while a Resident of Charlestown — His 
Addresses — Reminisences. 



AFTER the removal of Seth Knowles from Charles- 
town to Boston, the house on Town Hill, or 
Harvard Street, a description of which I have 
given, became the residence of Edward Everett, who 
lived in it for six or seven years. He had previously 
occupied the John Odin estate on the summit of Winter 
Hill, then a part of Charlestown. The square house at 
the junction of Broadway and the road leading to Med- 
ford, fronting directly down the hill and now known as 
the Hittenger house, was once the home of the distin- 
guished scholar, and many of the papers and speeches 
which in early life made him famous and popular were 
doubtless written and prepared under that roof. After 
his removal to Harvard Street he showed much interest 
in the affairs of the town and was oftentimes a speaker 
and adviser on important questions under consideration 
at political and pubhc meetings. He looked with great 
favor upon the Charlestown Lyceum, attended many of 
its lectures, gave occasional lectures himself, and hon- 
ored by his presence the social gatherings and entertain- 
ments sometimes given after the close of the meetings. 



242 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

He was a pew-holder and regular attendant at the 
Unitarian Church and an attentive listener to the 
sermons of Rev. Dr. James Walker. 

While a resident of the town Mr. Everett represented 
the Middlesex district in the Congress of the United 
States, and he was elected Governor of the State while 
a citizen of Charlestown. He was bom in Dorchester, 
April II, 1794, was graduated from Harvard College in 
181 1, and was a tutor in the college for two years 
previous to February, 18 14, when he was ordained and 
settled as the pastor of Brattle Street Church in Boston, 
two months before his twentieth birthday. One year 
later he was selected to fill the chair of Greek literature 
in Harvard College. He then visited Europe, studied 
two years in the University of Gottingen and traveled 
extensively, returning in the spring of 18 19 to enter 
upon the duties of his professorship. In 1822 he was 
married to Miss Brooks, a daughter of Peter Chardon 
Brooks, of Medford, and granddaughter of Nathaniel 
Gorham, who was a resident of Charlestown all his life 
and one of the most distinguished men of his time. In 
1824 Mr. Everett delivered an oration before the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge and made his mem- 
orable address of welcome to Lafayette, who was present. 
He was a Representative in the Congress of the United 
States from 1825 to 1835, Governor of Massachusetts 
from 1836 to 1840, Minister to England from 1841 to 
1845, president of Harvard College from 1846 to 1849, 
Secretary of State, succeeding his intimate friend Daniel 
Webster, from November, 1852, to March, 1853, and 
United States Senator from that time until his retire- 
ment to private hfe in 1854 on account of lack of health. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 243 

In i860 he consented to be the candidate of the con- 
servative party for the vice-presidency of the United 
States. 

The foregoing sketch of the public life of Mr. Everett 
will not be out of place here, although a full biography 
of the eminent scholar and statesman is easily obtained 
and is perhaps familiar to almost every one. 

Mr. Everett delivered many addresses in Charlestown, 
among which may be mentioned the following : 

Address in commemoration of John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson, in the First Church, August i, 
1826. 

Oration on the " History of Liberty," delivered in the 
First Church on the occasion of a celebration by the 
citizens, July 4, 1828. 

Address on the completion and setting up of the 
Harvard monument in the old Phipps Street burial- 
ground, September 26, 1828. 

Address on the Settlement of Massachusetts, deliv- 
ered before the Charlestown Lyceum at its celebration 
of the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Winthrop, 
June 28, 1830. 

Address on the Workingmen's Party, delivered before 
j the Charlestown Lyceum, October 6, 1830. 

Address at a public dinner in Charlestown, June 17, 
1836. 

Oration delivered in one of the large ship-houses in 
the Navy Yard, June 17, 1850, on the occasion of the 
joint celebration by the Monument Association and the 
City of Charlestown of the seventy-fifth anniversary of 
the battle of Bunker Hill. 

By request of the City Council of Charlestown his 



244 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

address on the Character of Washington, which had been 
delivered before the Mercantile Library Association of 
Boston, February 22, 1856, was repeated in the Win- 
throp Church, May 3, 1856. 

Address delivered on the Monument grounds, June 
17, 1857, presenting the statue of Warren to the Bunker 
Hill Monument Association, on the occasion of the joint 
celebration of the day by the association and the city. 

Address in behalf of the poor, in Harvard Church, 
January 9, 1858. 

Address on Franklin, in Harvard Church, January 20, 
1861. 

The opening lecture in the Mishawum Literary Asso- 
ciation course was delivered by him, in the Universalist 
Church, November 12, 1861, his subject being "The 
War and Its Causes " ; and his famous lecture on Astron- 
omy, originally given in Albany, was repeated in the 
Harvard Church. 

When Mr. Everett delivered his address on the Char- 
acter of Washington, he was introduced by Mayor 
Sawyer, who in the course of his remarks said : 

Among the many blessings and privileges which as a 
people we enjoy, prominent and precious is the privilege 
of contemplating and studying the life and character of 
Washington. The wonderful prosperity of our country, 
with the changes that are continually going on about us, 
demands such constant activity, such a share of our time 
and thought, that proper regard for true life — upright- 
ness, faithfulness, and friendliness — at times seems 
almost impossible. Absorbed in the projects and 
novelties about us, we grow selfish, uncharitable, pre- 
sumptious. We need some great example of virtue to 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 245 

control our thought and regulate our action. And this 
example we have in the character of Washington. His 
noble generosity, devoted patriotism, earnest faith, and 
thorough integrity — these have been vouchsafed to us, 
to temper our ambition, to deepen our responsibility, and 
to keep us united and free. Cherishing such sentiments, 
and grateful to the distinguished gentleman who had 
prepared and delivered in several places a most accept- 
able and perfect address upon the Father of his Country, 
and recognizing the honor to the city in such a proceed- 
ing, the City Council by a unanimous vote asked for its 
repetition in Charlestown. The distinguished gentleman, 
of whom we are proud to speak as a former resident 
here, honors us with his presence, and you are anxiously 
waiting to hear the sound of his voice. I should only 
fail were I to attempt to give full expression to the 
gratification I feel in being able to introduce to you, as 
the speaker of the evening, the Honorable Edward 
Everett. 

In beginning his address Mr. Everett made the follow- 
ing remarks in reference to Charlestown and his former 
residence here : 

I take great pleasure in appearing before you this 
evening. In doing so I review the agreeable recollection 
of my residence among you for ten or eleven years, and 
of our kindly relations as constituent and representative, 
as neighbor and friend. Nearly twenty years have 
elapsed, crowded with various incidents, but they have 
in no degree impaired my grateful remembrance of num- 
berless manifestations of good will and attachment while 
I lived among you ; of many a happy day made happier 
by your participation in its pleasures ; of scenes of afflic- 
tion and sorrow alleviated by your sympathy. I do, 
indeed, rejoice to speak once more to a Charlestown 
audience; and I doubly rejoice to speak to that audience 



246 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of the character of Washington. Surely, if there is a 
place in this wide Union where his character should be 
held in especial veneration, it is here at the cradle of our 
ancient and beloved commonwealth. Surely, if there is 
a spot in this continent where the very soil should be 
vocal in his praise, it must be the precincts of Bunker 
Hill, the scene of the first regular conflict of arms in 
that great Revolution through whose perilous vicissitudes, 
with wisdom and courage, led by a gracious Providence, 
he guided the Ship of State. Washington heard of the 
great events of the 1 7th of June — events which have 
immortalized the hill on whose slope we are now assem- 
bled — on his way to assume the command to which he 
had just been elected. Clouds and darkness hung over 
the country ; grave apprehensions found access to the 
stoutest heart. Without an army or a navy, we had 
gone to war with the most powerful government on 
earth. He inquired anxiously how the Americans had 
conducted themselves, and when informed of the stead- 
iness and gallantry with which the patriotic militia of 
New England had confronted a superior force of British 
veterans, his countenance lighted up, and he declared 
the cause of American liberty to be safe. Standing 
where I do, and speaking where I do, I seem to breathe 
the air of the Revolution ; and if I fail this evening to 
do justice to my illustrious theme — and who but must 
fail to do full justice to such a subject — let "the voice 
of our father's blood," which in the language of Warren 
"cries to us from the ground" — let the adamantine 
eloquence of the noble shaft that towers above us supply 
any deficiency and give full but silent utterance to the 
emotions which swell your bosoms and mine, and which 
articulate words can after all but poorly express. 

After the delivery of this address Mr. Everett met 
many of his old friends and neighbors at a reception 
given by the Mayor at his residence on High Street, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 247 

and later, in a private note, expressed his thanks for the 
reunion, which had afforded him great pleasure and 
enjoyment. 

Mr. Everett died January 15, 1865, and "his compre- 
hensive career, so full of distinction for himself, so full 
of benefit for the nation," was the theme of eulogies 
from the most eminent men all over the land. The 
remarks of E. P. Whipple, at the meeting of the Thurs- 
day Evening Club, of which Mr. Everett was president 
at the time of his death, are published in Mr. Whipple's 
book entitled " Character and Characteristic Men." 
They are very appreciative, and carefully read will leave 
us with as correct an impression, perhaps, as we can get 
of the accomplished gentleman, scholar, orator, and states- 
man who for a long period was a citizen of Charles- 
town. 

On the Harvard monument in the old burial-ground 
is this inscription : 

On the twenty-sixth day of September, A. D. 1828, 
this stone was erected by the graduates of the university 
at Cambridge in honor of its founder, who died at 
Charlestown on the twenty-sixth of September, 1628. 

The first suggestion that a monument should be 
erected came from Mr. Everett, and, in just a year from 
the date of the dinner-party where it was first talked of, 
a sufficient number of subscriptions of one dollar each 
had been collected to amount to enough for the pur- 
pose, the obelisk had been prepared, and the memorial 
set up in its place with appropriate ceremonies. 



-^ 



248 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Since writing the foregoing I have seen, in The Nezv 
York Ledger of May 24, 1890, the following, which may 
be of interest enough to copy as evidence of the intimacy 
between two very distinguished men : 

Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782, and died 
October 24, 1852, aged seventy years, nine months, and 
six days; Edward Everett was born April 11, 1794, and 
died January 15, 1865, aged seventy years, nine months, 
and four days. The difference between their ages at the 
time of death was therefore only two days. The almost 
fraternal relation of these great men for so many years, 
during which either might have been proud of the other's 
position but for his own, was of a sort not often seen in 
public life, uninterrupted, and never chilled by selfish 
jealousies. It is beautifully referred to by Mr. Webster 
in one of his letters to Mr. Everett : 

" We now and then see stretching across the heavens 
a clear, blue, cerulean sky, without cloud, or mist, or haze. 
And such appears to me our acquaintance, from the time 
when I heard you for a week recite your lessons in the 
little school-house in Short Street, to the date hereof." 

June 7, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 249 



XLI 

Two Celebrations 

Independence Day, July 4, 1828 : Edward Everett, the Orator — 
Bunker Hill Day, June 17, 1836: Alexander H. Everett, 
the Orator — Edward Everett's Famous Speech at the 
Dinner-Table. 

IN the previous chapter I referred to the residence of 
Edward Everett in Charlestown, and gave a list of 

orations and addresses prepared and delivered by him 
here. It may be interesting now to give an account of 
some of the celebrations and occasions of which they 
made a part. 

His first address, August i, 1826, was in commemora- 
tion of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who died on 
the 4th of July of that year. 

Independence Day, July 4, 1828, was the occasion of 
a grand celebration by the citizens of the town. Every 
body was interested in its success, and the place was 
alive with enthusiasm. The ringing of the church-bells 
and a salute by the Artillery Company made the morning 
lively, and a repetition of the same at noon and sundown 
kept up the appropriate patriotic excitement. Early in 
the forenoon the citizens, who had assembled at the 
Unitarian Church on Main Street, were formed in pro- 
cession, and under the escort of the Warren Phalanx, 
Captain Benjamin Knox, and the Charlestown Light 



250 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Infantry, Captain Abraham P. Prichard, marched 
through the principal streets to the First Church on 
Town Hill, where the services were very interesting. 
The Declaration of Independence was read by Dr. 
Abraham R. Thompson with an emphasis and sincerity 
such as those of us who remember the doctor's manner 
can well imagine. Then followed the oration of Mr. 
Everett on "The History of Liberty." It was a pro- 
duction of great merit which was received and afterwards 
read with satisfaction and delight, and which added much 
to his fame as a scholar and orator. 

The singing on the occasion, under the direction of 
John M. Robertson, assisted by Joseph Newell and 
William B. Oliver, leading musical men of their time, 
was very effective and pleasing. Mr. Newell sang the 
solo from Handel's Judas Maccabeus, " Sound an Alarm ; 
Your Silver Trumpets Sound," and Mr. Oliver, "Go 
Forth to the Mount " ; and the chorus-singing by a large 
and well-drilled choir was excellent. 

After the exercises in the church were finished the 
procession was re-formed and proceeded to the Town 
Hall, which had been decorated with great taste for the 
occasion of a grand dinner. Flags and banners, portraits 
and patriotic mottoes, were skillfully arranged about the 
walls. The columns were wound with bunting, and 
well-spread tables were never more inviting to guests as 
they entered and took their seats. Thomas I. Goodwin 
presided and Rev. Mr. Fay said grace. After the dinner, 
speeches, sentiment, and song were in order and were 
made very enjoyable. Letters were read from Timothy 
Thompson and Thomas Miller, survivors of the battle 
of Bunker Hill, who were prevented from attendance by 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 251 

illness. Each sent a sentiment which was read and 
received with applause. Mr. Thompson's was : ** The 
first town which fell a sacrifice on the altar of Liberty, 
but now, phoenix-like, rises from its ashes and becomes 
a nursery of freemen." Deacon Miller's : " The rising 
generation — may they be well educated in the principles 
of a true government, of morality, and of religion ; re- 
membering that righteousness exalteth a nation." Mr. 
Everett made a short speech at the table, closing with a 
sentiment. He was followed by Commodore Charles 
Morris and Captain Gallagher of the navy, the captains 
of the military companies, and many of the citizens. 

In the evening Colonel Joseph Loring's hospitable 
mansion was open to his friends and his garden was 
ablaze with fire-works. We may be sure, too, that 
Andrew Roulstone's two small guns — bull-dogs, as 
they were always called — sounded out the patriotism 
of their owner three times during that day. I have 
before written of Colonel Joseph Loring ; but who was 
Andrew Roulstone ? He was one of the most patriotic 
citizens ever living in Charlestown. He had studied and 
kept in mind all the important events in his country's 
history and the lives of its heroes, and their anniversaries 
were noted and impressed upon his fellow-citizens by the 
voice of these bull-dogs. They were short, mortar-like 
pieces of ordnance, but their reports were sure to be 
heard, for they spoke out in tones of thunder under the 
charges given them by their owner. 

The speech referred to as having been made at a 
dinner in Charlestown, June 17, 1836, was on the occa- 
sion of a celebration of the day by the young men of 
the town without distinction of political party. At that 



252 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

time Mr. Everett was Governor of the Commonwealth. 
Early in the day the Charlestown Light Infantry, Captain 
James Dana, and the Columbian Guards, Captain E. O. 
Eaton, made a parade and visited Boston, halting at 
Faneuil Hall. Here they received the Independent 
Company of Cadets — the Governor's bodyguard. Tak- 
ing them under escort they marched to Charlestown, to 
the Governor's residence on Harvard Street. They were 
entertained by His Excellency, who had invited many of 
his friends and fellow-citizens to meet them. The three 
companies constituted the escort for the procession, 
which was formed under the direction of Samuel Ether- 
idge, chief marshal of the day, and proceeded to the 
Unitarian Church, where an oration was delivered by 
Alexander H. Everett, the distinguished brother of the i 
Governor. An ode was written for the occasion by 
Thomas Power, of Boston. In the afternoon a dinner 
was given in the Town Hall, served by Gorham Bigelow, 
of the Mansion House, and presided over by Benjamin 
Thompson ; and it was here that Mr. Everett made the 
speech which, in his volume of printed speeches, is 
referred to as having been delivered at a public dinner 
in Charlestown. At this dinner Robert C. Winthrop 
was present as one of the Governor's aides, and made 
a speech ; so also was John H. Clifford, afterwards 
Governor, another of the aides. Two others of the 
Governor's staff were present, Charles F. Andrew, of 
Salem, and Daniel Fletcher Webster, of Boston. Pres- 
ident Josiah Quincy, Commander John Downes, the 
French Consul, and other distinguished persons were 
present at this celebration. Nine survivors of the 
battle of Bunker Hill and three other soldiers of the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 253 

Revolution were present in the church to hear the 
oration, a portion of which was especially addressed to 
them. And just now, while we are endeavoring to show 
our grateful appreciation of the value of the services of 
the soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, may we not 
intensify its importance by referring to what was gained 
by the men of the Revolution and left to be preserved 
by them ? Eleven years before this celebration, when 
Lafayette was here to assist in the laying of the corner- 
stone of the monument, two hundred survivors of the 
battle were present to take him by the hand. They were 
thanked for their services by Daniel Webster in his 
great speech, in these words : ^* In the name of this 
generation, in the name of your country, and in the name 
of Liberty, we thank you." Mr. Everett referred to this 
fact, and closed his remarks to the twelve who were 
listening to him as follows : 

You now attend in diminished numbers. He, too, 
that noble stranger, the last major-general of the Rev- 
olutionary army, our illustrious friend, fellow-citizen, 
and guest, after passing through fresh trials, after 
achieving new prodigies of patriotism and valor, has 
closed his high career. You alone are left. Venerable 
friends and fathers ! We greet you with deeper interest 
as the scanty sole survivors of this memorable day. We 
rejoice that so many of you have been permitted to 
witness another solemn celebration of its return, to hear 
once more, however feeble the voice that utters them, 
our cordial acknowledgements of your services and worth. 
May your lives be preserved yet longer, for many years 
to come, and when in the fullness of time and honors 
you too shall be gathered to your fathers and your 
brothers in arms, may you have the satisfaction in your 



254 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

last moments of seeing the prosperity of the country, 
which you did so much to establish, still unimpaired as 
it is now. 

While referring to the death of Warren the orator took 
from his vest pocket the identical musket-ball which 
caused his death, wrapped in a piece of paper stained 
with his blood. It was taken from the dead body the 
morning after the battle, by Mr. Savage, a British high 
officer in the Boston Custom House at that day, and was 
given to Rev. William Montague, of Dedham, Massachu- 
setts, who was in London in 1 790 and who brought it to 
America as a relic of the Revolution. Mr. Everett's 
oration was printed, and appended to it is the affidavit 
of Mr. Montague to the above effect. 

Governor Everett brought with him to the dinner- 
table in the afternoon, and read to the company assem- 
bled, several original orders of General Ward, written 
about the time of the battle in 1775, which had recently 
been found in a neglected corner of the State House. 

August 16, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 2SS 



XLII 
George Washington 

Charlestown Ever Faithful to His Memory. 

IN Chapter XXXI. I have said that Major Benjamin 
Frothingham so distinguished himself in the Revolu- 
tionary War that General Washington on his visit to 
Massachusetts after the war honored him with a call at 
his house on Main Street. This is a pleasing recollec- 
tion ; and it is a gratifying thought that the old town 
was ever faithful in remembering the inestimable value 
of the life and character of Washington. 

In T/ie CJiarlestown Enterprise of February 19, 1893, 
was an article, written by Mr. Hunnewell, entitled 
" Charlestown Paid Tribute to Washington While He 
Lived." In this article reference is made to the 
scarcity of a pamphlet printed by John Lamson at his 
office near Charles River Bridge, containing an account 
of a celebration in Charlestown on the 2 2d of February, 
1797, the sixty-fifth anniversary of the birthday of 
Washington, with the prayer of Rev. Jedidiah Morse, 
D.D., and the oration of Dr. Josiah Bartlett, before 
King Solomon's Lodge of Free Masons, in Warren 
Hall. 

Fortunately one of the few copies of this pamphlet 
now in existence is owned by Mr. Hunnewell, and he 
quotes from it enough to impress us with the feeling 



256 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

that the Charlestown of that day was full of love for 
Washington and of grateful and affectionate remem- 
brance of his services to his country. He had just 
declined another nomination for the Presidency and was 
about to retire to private life, and the patriotic spirit of 
the old townspeople could not let the anniversary of his 
birthday pass without a special expression of their appre- 
ciation of the immeasurable value of his life and char- 
acter. Thus the day was set apart for remembrance of 
him whose memory we cherish as the " Father of his 
Country, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts 
of his countrymen." 

I have recently been presented with another old pam- 
phlet, which is referred to in Mr. Hunnewell's " Bibli- 
ography of Charlestown and Bunker Hill," and which 
was printed in 1800 by authority of the town of Charles- 
town, containing an account of its action on receiving 
news of the death of Washington ; and it seems to me 
that this will be a good time to reprint a portion of that 
account. 

Washington died December 14, 1799, at Mount 
Vernon, his beautiful home on the banks of the Potomac, 
in Virginia. On the eighteenth of December, with 
military and Masonic honors, his body was placed in the ^ 
family vault at the foot of the long lawn leading from 
his house to the river, and there the service of the 
church was read over it. " Three general discharges 
by the infantry, the cavalry, and eleven pieces of artillery, 
which lined the banks of the Potomac, back of the 
vault, paid the last tribute to the entombed commander- 
in-chief of the armies of the United States and to the 
venerable departed hero." 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 257 

On Thursday, December 26, 1799, at a meeting of 
the selectmen and parish committee of Charlestown, the 
following action was taken : 

It having pleased the Supreme and Unerring Disposer 
of all events to remove from this world their late most 
illustrious and beloved fellow-citizen, George Washington ; 
and it being, in their opinion, the duty of every Amer- 
ican, in a public and respectful manner, not only to 
acknowledge his various and unexampled services, but to 
testify to the most affectionate regard to his memory : 

They therefore unanimously recommend that the 
afternoon of Tuesday, the 31st inst., be set apart by the 
inhabitants of the town, for the solemn purpose ; and 
the following arrangements were proposed : 

That at one o'clock p. m. the stores and shops be shut 
and that there be a general suspension of business. 

That the bell be tolled from one o'clock till two, at 
which time it be rung for the attendance of the people 
at the meeting-house. 

That the following be the Public Performances : 

Dirge on the organ. 

Prayer by the Rev. Doctor Morse. 

A Funeral Hymn. 

Discourse by Doc't. Morse. 

Funeral Ode. 

The Valedictory address of George Washington as 

President to the citizens of the United States 

to be read by Doctor Morse. 

The bell to be tolled an hour after service. 

A committee was appointed to wait upon the presiding 
officer of the Society of Free Masons in this town, to 
request their attendance in a body on the occasion. 

Captain Timothy Walker and Lieutenant Nathaniel 



258 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Austin, Jr., were appointed marshals, and committees 
were named to make all further necessary arrange- 
ments. 

At the time appointed the citizens assembled at 
Warren Hall, and a procession, consisting of six hundred 
and twenty persons, was formed in the following order : 

Marshal. 
Male children from seven to fourteen years of age. 
Public School Masters. 
Young men from fourteen to twenty-five years. 
The three military companies, in uniform, with side- 
arms. Military officers. 
Citizens. 
King Solomon's Lodge of Free Masons, in ample form. 

Assessors. 

Parish Treasurer and Clerk. 

Trustees of the Free Schools. 

Minister and Deacons. 

Town Treasurer and Clerk. 

Magistrates, Representative. 

Selectmen. 

Band of music. 

Marshal. 

" A detachment of artillery, posted by the monument, 
fired minute-guns until the procession entered the 
meeting-house, where the proposed solemnities were 
performed to the entire approbation of a crowded 
audience. 

"Amid the most unfeigned and deep sorrow on 
the occasion, the proper external tokens were not 
neglected. The male inhabitants of every age appeared 
in the usual badge of mourning ; and the females, whose 
sympathetic tears denoted their respect for the friend 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 259 

and protector of innocence, were clad in the emblems of 
grief. 

"The flags at the wharves and on shore were dis- 
played at half-mast. The desk and front of the galleries 
in the temple of the Most High were covered with 
black, an extensive festoon passed over the canopy of 
the pulpit, with suitable vestments on the organ and 
chandelier. Even the monument was veiled for the 
occasion, and the following were the arrangements at 
Warren Hall : 

" The walls, the pedestals, the tables, and the regalia 
of the Lodge were shrouded. In the east was a striking 
portrait of the late George Washington, surrounded by 
a display of bright rays in every direction. In the 
north stood the figure of a large Eagle, mantled in black, 
with its eyes directed to the picture, and from its bill 
was suspended a label with the following inscription : 
*A11 Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him 
honor at his death.' In the south was a portrait in 
mourning of the President of the United States. The 
light of the room was no more than sufficient to display 
these affecting objects, and the hall was visited in the 
evening by every description of the inhabitants, whose 
grave deportment and propriety of behavior denoted a 
just estimation of the transactions of the day. 

" The address to the throne of grace was comprehen- 
sive, pathetic, and devotional. The text of the sermon 
was from Deuteronomy xxxiv: 5, 7, 8, and while appro- 
priate sentiments and metaphors engaged the profound- 
est attention, a plaintive elegance of delivery contributed 
to the mingled emotions of grief, sensibility, and sub- 
mission * to Him who maketh darkness his pavilion.' 



26o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

"The music, directed by Mr. Oliver Holden, per- 
formed with accuracy on the organ by Messrs. Peter 
and Charles Dolliver, and vocally by the Society of 
Singers, was calculated * with mournful melody to melt 
the soul into all the tenderness of woe,' and prepared for 
the valedictory address, which concluded the solemn 
scene. 

** The Society of Free Masons, accompanied by the 
officers of the town, the church, the parish, and a 
number of the Reverend Clergy, returned in procession 
to Warren Hall, where funeral ceremonies were per- 
formed in memory of the most distinguished uninspired 
member of the fraternity of which sacred or profane 
history can boast. 

" On the following day, at a meeting of the selectmen, 
parish committee, and master of the Lodge, a vote of 
thanks was passed to Doctor Morse for his performances, 
and a copy requested for the press, which, with the val- 
edictory address and the foregoing account, was ordered 
to be published in a pamphlet and a copy delivered to 
the respective families in the town. A frequent perusal 
of its contents was earnestly recommended, as containing 
the life, character, opinions, and advice of the greatest 
patriot, statesman, and hero of the age ; and a most val- 
uable legacy to their children's children and their suc- 
cessors to the latest period of time. 

"N. B. — The selectmen at this time were: David 
Goodwin, chairman ; Joseph Adams, Nathaniel Hawkins, 
Richard Frothingham, John Carter, Nathaniel Gorham, 
and Daniel Tufts. The parish committee were : James 
Frothingham, Josiah Bartlett, Thomas Harris, Timothy 
Thompson, and Jonathan Kettell ; and the principal 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 261 

officers of the Lodge were Oliver Holden, Thomas 
Ohver Larkin, and David Goodwin, Jr. 

** The eagle and the beautiful appearance around the 
picture in Warren Hall were from the ingenuity of 
Brother Daniel Reynaud, a celebrated painter and 
artist. 

" Charlestown, January 2, 1800." 

It has been said of Washington : ** He was the 
greatest of good men and the best of great men." 
Washington Irving, in closing one of the chapters in his 
life of the distinguished man, makes this remark : " To 
act justly was his instinct, to promote the public weal 
his constant effort, to deserve the affection of good men 
his ambition." 

Let faithfulness to the memory of Washington and 
reflection upon his character do its perfect work with us, 
and all the promise and hope of our country will be 
fulfilled and assured. 

March 2, 1895. 



262 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XLIII 

An Important List 

Cabinet Officers, Members of Congress, and Members of the 
Massachusetts Legislature, from Charlestown, covering One 
Hundred Years. 

-^ 

I WAS glad to see in the last issue of The Charlestown 
E^tterprise a list of persons who served in the Charles- 
town City Government, made out by William H. 
Whitmore, chairman of the record commissioners of the 
city of Boston, and published now for the purpose of 
obtaining information needful to carry out the design 
of the City Government to put in print short biograph- 
ical notices of past officials. I have in my possession an 
interesting paper prepared by my friend, C. B. Tilling- 
hast, the genial and obliging librarian at the State 
Library, and presented to me some time ago, which I 
have intended to place among the historical notices and 
recollections of the old town, and this perhaps is the 
best time to do so. It is valuable information, I am 
sure, and I trust it will be appreciated by those who 
will now have an opportunity to look it over and preserve 
it for future reference. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 263 



Members of the State Government, from 
Charlestown, 1 780 -1 890. 

Nathaniel Gorham, Senate, 1780, '90; House, 1781-87 
(Speaker, 1781, '82, '85) ; Council, 1788, '89 ; Con- 
ventions, 1779, '80, '88; Congress (Continental), 
1782, 'Ss, '85-87 (elected President of the Con- 
gress, June 6, 1786). 

Timothy Tufts House, 1780 

Captain Thomas Harris, House, i788-'9i, 1801-08, 

'12, '13 ; also State Treasurer, 18 10. 
Captain Thomas Harris, Jr., House, 18 16, 'i9-'2i, '23, 

'24; Convention, 1820. 
Samuel Dexter, Jr., Senate, 1792; Council, 1804, '05; 
Congress, 1793-95; United States Senate, 1799, 
1800; Secretary of War, i8oo-'oi ; Secretary of 
the Treasury, January i to March 3, 1801. 

Richard Devens House, 1792-98 

Josiah Bartlett, House, 1799, 18 15, '17; Senate, 1800; 
Council, 1 80 1. 

Aaron Putnam House, 1800 

Matthew Bridge. . .House, 1803-08 ; Senate, 1809-12 

David Goodwin House, 1804-10, '13 

Seth Wyman House, 1805, *o6 

Richard Frothingham House, 1806, '07 

Nathaniel Hawkins House, 1807 

Peter Tufts, Jr House, 1808-12, '19, '20 

Elijah Mead House, 1808 

Timothy Thompson House, 1809 

John Kettell House, 1 809-' 1 2 

^David Devens House, 1809, '10 

Joseph Miller House, 18 10, '11, '13 

William Austin, House, 181 1- 14, '16, '27, '34; Senate, 
1821-23; Convention, 1820. 

Daniel Tufts House, 181 1, '12 

Joseph Hurd House, 18 14 

John Soley House, 1 8 1 3, '14 



264 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Joseph Tufts House, 18 14 

Major Timothy Walker, House, 18 15, '18; Senate, 1822 
Philemon R. Russell. . . .House, 18 16, '19-24, '26-28 
Leonard Moody Parker, House, 1816, '25, '28, '29; 
Senate, 1818-20, '26, '27; Convention, 1820. 
[Afterwards in Legislature from Shirley.] 
Seth Knowles, House, 18 16, '22, '23 ; Senate, 1824, '25 ; 

Convention, 1820. 
Asahel Stearns, Senate, 18 13 (to fill a vacancy), '30, '31 ; 
House, 18 17; Congress, 18 16, '17. 

Oliver Holden House, 18 18, '25, '26, '28-33 

Timothy Thompson, Jr., House, 1819, '20, '39; Con- 
vention, 1820. 

Richard Devens House, 18 19, '20, '23 

John Harmon Brown House, 1819-24 

George Bartlett Convention, 1820 

James Kettell Frothingham House, 1823-25 

Thomas Jenner Goodwin, House, 1824, '25, '27, '28 ; 
Senate, 1829, '30. 

Benjamin Whipple House, 1824-27, '29 

Samuel Jaques, Jr House, 1825 

William C. Jarvis, House, 1826, '27 (Speaker both 
years) ; Senate, 1828. [Also member from Pittsfield 
and Woburn.] 

David Stetson House, 1826 

John Harris House, 1826-33 

Josiah Harris House, 1827, '28 

Leavitt Corbett House, 1829 

Josiah Stearns Hurd House, 1829, '34 

Edward Cutler House, 1830-33, '35, '36 

Lot Pool House, 1830-33 

Benjamin Thompson, House, 1830, '31, '33-36; Sen- 
ate, 1841 ; Congress, 1845-47, '51, '52. 

Daniel Tufts, Jr. House, 1830, '32, '33 

John Sweetser House, 1832, '34-36 

Nathaniel Austin, House, i83i,'38; Senate, 1832-35; 

Council, 1836. 
Benjamin Brintnall House, 183 1 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 26s 

Benjamin Adams House, 1833 

David Fosdick House, 1833, '35, '36 

Guy C. Hawkins House, 1833 

Stephen Wiley House, 1834, '37 

Timothy Fletcher House, 1834-37, '41, '52 

Colonel Loammi Baldwin, Council, 1835 ; Presidential 
Elector, 1836. 

Charles Forster House, 1835 

William Gordon House, 1835 

Eliab Parker Mackintire House, 1835, '57 

Larkin Turner House, 1835, '36 

Elias Crafts House, 1836, '38 

Samuel Etheridge House, 1836, '38 

Dexter Bowman House, 1837 

Joseph F. Boyd House, 1837, '41, '42 

Abijah Monroe House, 1837 

Edwin Munroe House, 1837 

Samuel Poor House, 1837, '39 

John Runey House, 1837 

John Stevens House, 1837 

Charles Thompson, House, 1837; Council, 1843; Sen- 
ate, 1850; Convention, 1853. 

Abijah Hovey House, 1838 

James Underwood House, 1838 

George Washington Warren, House, 1838 ; Senate, 

1853, '54. 
Thomas Greenleaf House, 1839 

Jonathan Locke House, 1839, '40 

Phinehas Rice House, 1839, '4^ 

Samuel C. Simonds House, 1839 

William Daggett Butts House, 1 840 

Richard Frothingham, Jr., House, 1840, '42, '44, '50, 

'51 ; Convention, 1853. 

John Cheever House, 1840 

Phinehas J. Stone House, 1840, '56, '62, '63 

Charles Adams House, 1840 

Thomas Jefferson Eliott House, 1841 

Henry Forster House, 1841 



166 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Ichabod Lindsey House, 1841 

Frederick Robinson, Senate, 1842, '43 (President in 
1843). [Formerly in Legislature from Marblehead.] 

William Sawyer House, 1842, '43 

Seth J. Thomas House, 1842, '43 

Francis Turner House, 1842 

Joshua Baldwin House, 1843 

John Sanborn House, 1843 

Freeman Foster Tilden House, 1844 

Philip Babb Holmes House, 1844, '52 

Absalom Rand House, 1 844 

Christopher Columbus Dean House, 1846 

Abraham Rand Thompson, Council, 1847, '48 ; Pres- 
idential Elector, 1844. 
Henry Parker Fairbanks .. House, 1847; Council, 1853 

Oliver Smith House, 1850, '5 1 

James Munroe Stone, House, 1850, '5 1, '64-67 (Speaker 
in '66, '67). 

Edward Thorndike House, 1850, '51 

John L. Taggard House, 185 1 

John Quincy Adams Griffin, House, 1855. [Afterwards 
member from Maiden.] 

C. H. J. Hamlen House, 1855 

Francis M. Mason House, 1855 

Jeremiah S. Remick House, 1855, 66 

Edward R. Robinson House, 1855, '56 

James Emery House, 1856 

Lyman B. Goss House, 1856 

Joseph Lovett House, 1856 

James Lee, Jr House, 1857 

Seth Lewis Loring House, 1857 

Timothy Thompson Sawyer, House, 1857; Senate, 1858 

Amos Tufts House, 1857 

Joseph Caldwell House, 1858, '59 

Edward Lawrence . . . .House, 1858, '59; Senate, 1873 

Ebenezer Barker House, 1859 

Lyman Pray House, 1858, '59 

Paul Willard House, 1858 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 267 

Eugene L. Norton, Senate, 1859-61, '79> '^o; House, 

1878. 
James Fisher Dwinell, House, 1859, '60. [Member from 

Winchester, 1883.] 
Charles Field, House, i860,* 61. [From Boston, 1857, 

'S6, '87.] 

Edwin Woodman House, i860, '61 

Marcellus Day House, i860, '61, '78 

Everett Torrey House, 1861, '62 

Amos Brown House, 1 862 

Abel Eliab Bridge House, 1862, '63 

Horatio Wellington House, 1863, '64 

William Bennet Long, House, 1863, '65 ; Senate, 1871, 

'72. 
Francis Childs. . .Senate, 1864, '65 ; Council, 1877, *yS 

George S. Pendergast House, 1864, '65 

Moses B. Sewall House, 1864 

Robert B. Rogers House, 1865, '66 

Charles E. Rogers House, 1866, '6y 

Moses A. Dow Senate, 1867 

Winsor Wright House, 1867 

Rufus A. White House, 1867, '68 

Edwin G. Walker House, 1867 

Oliver H. P. Smith Senate, 1868, '69 

Thomas Cunningham House, 1868 

William Sherburne House, 1868 

Caleb Rand House, 1868, '69 ; Senate, 1876, '7/ 

George H. Long House, 1868 

Samuel Stearns Willson House, 1869, '70 

William Wallace Davis House, 1869 

William Hichborn House, 1869 

Samuel Dexter Sawin House, 1869, '70, 'y6 

Francis Thompson Senate, 1870 

Thomas Burdett Harris House, 1 870-72 

Marshall Ney Cutter House, 1870 

John Adams Day House, 1870 

Alfred K. Merrill House, 1871 

Joseph Henry Cotton House, 1871, '72 



268 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Andrew Jackson Bailey, House, 1871-73 ; Senate, 1874 

Israel Phillips Magoun House, 1871 

Oliver Ayres House, 1872 

Charles Curtis House, 1872 

Robert R. Wiley House, 1873, '74; Senate, 1875 

John Sampson House, 1873 

Isaac Walker Derby House, 1873, '74 

John Henry Studley House, 1873, '74 

Aaron O. Buxton House, 1874 

Joseph Warren Hill House, 1874-76 

James A. McDonald House, 1875 

John D. Flynn House, 1875 

Samuel R. Brintnall House, 1875 

Francis Elisha Downer House, 1876 

Benjamin F. Stacey House, 1876 

John B. Norton House, 1 876, '79 

J. Henry Brown House, 1877 

Milton L. P. Heustis House, 1877 

John Turner House, 1877, '78 

Nahum Chapin , House, 1877, '78 

Dennis G. Quirk House, 1877, '81 

Freeman L. Oilman House, 1878 

Charles Ruthven Byram House, 1878 

Jeremiah J. Crowley House, 1879, '^^ 

Joseph Warren Davis House, 1879 

John H. Dee House, 1879, '80 

John Henry Sherburne, House, 1879, '^o 5 Senate, 1882, 

'83. 

George M. Starbird House, 1880 

Augustus Whittemore Stover House, 1880, '81 

James White House, 1881, '82 

Henry Lyon House, 1 88 1 

John Reade House, 1881-83 

Samuel Chamberlain Hunt House, 1882, '83 

Edwin Lake Pilsbury, House, 1882, '83; Senate, 1887, 

'89. 

Samuel Tibbetts Harris House, 1882 

John Edward Hayes House, 1883, '87, '88 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 269 

John R. Murphy House, 1883-85 ; Senate, 1886 

Ezra Jackson Trull Senate, 1884, '85 

George A. Sanderson House, i884-'86 

Patrick Thomas Barry House, 1884, '85 

Oliver Prime House, 1884, '85 

Philip Joseph Doherty House, 1884-86 

Francis J. Murphy House, 1886, '87 

John P. Reynolds House, 1886, '^7 

Joseph Henry Gleason House, 1887, '^S 

Patrick J. Calnan House, 1887, '88 

Robert Alexander Southworth Senate, 1888 

John William O'Neil House, 1888, '89 

William Henry Preble House, 1888, '89 

William H. Murphy House, 1889 

Ira A. Worth House, 1 889, '90 

Omer Pillsbury House, 1889 

George N. Swallow House, 1889, '90 

George H. Gammans Senate, 1 890 

J. Homer Edgerly House, 1890 

Michael J. Mitchell House, 1890 

Winfield F. Prime House, 1890 

Edward W. Presho House, 1890 

Edward Everett, Congress, 1825-35 ; Governor, 1836- 
'40; Minister to England, 1841-45; Secretary of 
State (succeeding Daniel Webster), 1852; Senate 
of United States, 1853, '54. 

The names of some very distinguished men, whose 
services were of great value to their country, can be 
found in this list ; and taken as a whole it can be 
referred to and looked upon with pride and satisfaction 
by all who are interested in the past of Charlestown. 

August 30, 1890. 



270 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XLIV 
The Knowles- Everett House 

The Russell House — The Mansion House — The Waverley 
House — Moses A. Dow. 



A 



FTER the removal of Governor Everett to Boston, 
the estate on Harvard Street was purchased by 
William Carleton, who has been mentioned before 
as the founder of Carleton College, in Northfield, Min- 
nesota. He lived here for a quarter of a century, and 
then moved to the new house on Monument Square, 
built by him in 1863, where he died in December, 1876. 
The same house is now the residence of his son, William 
E. Carleton. Mr. Carleton was a well-known and very 
successful business man. He was a self-made man. In 
early life he learned the trade of a tinman, and after- 
wards was extensively engaged in the manufacture of 
lamps and gas-fixtures. His factory on Beach Street, in 
Boston, was one of the largest in the country. Under 
his constant personal attention the business was lucrative 
and his accumulations were large, and during his life-time 
he made many generous donations besides the gift of 
$50,000 to the college referred to. He was a leading 
man in the Winthrop Church and prominent in the 
denomination to which it belongs. He was also one of 
the first vice-presidents of the Winchester Home. 

The next occupant of the house on Harvard Street 



OLD CHARLESTOWN ayi 

was Ezra Trull, of the old firm of Trull Brothers, dis- 
tillers, who at one time were also largely engaged in the 
Smyrna trade. He was the father of Colonel Ezra J. 
Trull, whose merits and manly qualities are so well 
remembered, and whose popularity as a man and military 
officer was so fully attested at the time of his death, 
April 29, 1886, while he held the position of commander 
of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. The 
military turnout on the occasion of his funeral from his 
residence on Monument Square, and the procession that 
followed his body to the Second Church in Boston, and 
from there to Mount Auburn, was almost a pageant in 
its proportions and parade. Colonel Trull served four 
years in the War of the Rebellion. He was a member 
of the City Council in 1873, and of the Massachusetts 
Senate in 1884-85. 

After the death of Mr. Trull, senior, the house on Har- 
vard Street was purchased, in 1872, by Francis Childs, who 
made it his home until April 6, 1887, when he died sud- 
denly of heart-disease. Mr. Childs was born in Charles- 
town, near this estate, and spent his boyhood here. He was 
very active in the affairs of his native place. The record 
of his usefulness as an official of the town, and of many 
of its institutions and associations, is a highly creditable 
one. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 
i862-'63, and of the Mystic Water Board for several 
years, and he was the third president of the Training 
Field School Association. For three years he was one 
of the inspectors of the State Prison, was in the State 
Senate in i863-'64, and in the Governor's Council in 
1877-78. He took a deep interest in the Old Ladies' 
Home, succeeding Mr. Carleton as one of the vice- 



272 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

presidents, and at one time contributed ;^iooo to its 
funds. He was a trusted and much esteemed business 
man, commencing his career in Charlestown, though 
afterwards for many years largely engaged in the carpet- 
trade in Boston. He was a leading member of the 
Baptist Church, with which he connected himself early 
in life, and occupied a high position in the order of Free 
Masons, He had two sons, George T., now a prominent 
man in Vermont, and Nathaniel, well known in dramatic 
and musical circles. 

We have thus given a full history of the brick house 
built by Matthew Bridge for his daughter, Mrs. Knowles, 
and of its various occupants to the time of the death of 
Mr. Childs in 1887. It is still standing, but its attract- 
iveness is gone, and now we have to draw wholly upon 
the memory to make it interesting. 

The old, wooden mansion of Mr. Bridge, described in 
a former article, which stood near the top of the hill 
and which was inherited by another daughter, Mrs. 
Baker, who occupied it until her death, vanished from 
sight more than a quarter of a century ago. Its time 
for change had come, and the man to affect the trans- 
formation had appeared. Moses A. Dow purchased 
the estate and commenced here his enterprising and 
courageous project for the improvement of Charlestown 
property. The gradual decay of the fine old place, so 
unpleasant to witness, was checked by him by its entire 
destruction at once. The house was taken down, the 
garden demolished, the land laid out into lots, and the 
work of building up immediately thereafter commenced. 
In a very little time the fine, large brick building, the 
residence of Mr. Dow until his death, June 22^ 1886, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 273 

was a completed structure, imposing to look upon, and 
important as an addition to the assessors' valuation 
of real property. Then followed the building of the 
blocks of handsome and thoroughly constructed brick 
dwelling-houses on Harvard Street and Harvard Place, 
after which, by the purchase of the Jaquith estate on the 
corner of Harvard and Arrow streets, and of the old 
Dummy Nutting estate adjoining, an opportunity to 
extend improvement was afforded, and equally good 
buildings were erected there. All these buildings are 
still held by the trustees of the estate of Mr. Dow. 

If we were to stop here, we could say with truth that 
it is doubtful if any other individual living in Charles- 
town, before or since, had or has, single-handed, planned 
and carried out in so short a time an improvement in 
the town on a scale equal to that of Mr. Dow's. 

But this was only the beginning of his work. He 
had hardly completed these houses when he purchased 
the Eben Austin estate, on the Square. This estate, 
once attractive, and occupied for years by prominent 
citizens and prosperous business men, was at this time 
rapidly falling into decay. It was still owned by heirs 
of this branch of the Austin family, but they were non- 
residents, out of health, and lacking in enterprise ; and 
the old story of neglect was being told in the gradual 
deterioration of their property. Mr. Dow bought the 
estate, saw no value in the buildings, and they were 
razed to the ground. The estate adjoining that of the 
Austin's, known as Cook's Lane, had reached a point 
of degradation almost insufferable. This, too, was 
purchased, its occupants routed, and a clean sweep 
made of the buildings and rubbish with which it was 



274 OLD CHARLESTO.WN 

cumbered. Meanwhile, plans had been drawn for a 
large and handsome hotel, to be erected on this territory, 
and the foundation-stones were very soon settling into 
the trenches prepared for them. On this foundation, 
with wonderful rapidity, the walls grew up, and the work 
went on until the building was completed. 

But in the eyes of Mr. Dow it was not complete. 
Between it and Warren Avenue was still left the Russell 
estate, with the old mansion of its original owner intact 
so far as the exterior was concerned, although its interior 
had for many years been changed from a distinguished 
family residence to a well-kept hostelry and boarding- 
house. This public house, known as the Mansion House, 
had past its best days and had dropped to a grade much 
inferior to its original standing. 

" Its day is over," thought Mr. Dow. '' I have over- 
shadowed it with a modern building. The contrast is 
too great. It must come down. The new hotel must 
take in all this part of Char lest own Square." 

The property was purchased by him, and the old 
building, the elegant home of the Russells in the days of 
long ago, and afterwards of Commodore John Shaw, 
John Soley, Joseph Thompson, and the distinguished 
lawyer, Andrew Dunlap ; the building in which, in its 
earher days as a public house kept by Gorham Bigelow 
and Charles Stinson, many of the best people in the 
town, as boarders, were made comfortable and happy (it 
being a popular place then) — this old building, when 
its usefulness had gone, was reached in the march of 
improvement and yielded up its right to remain longer 
except in the memory of the oldest inhabitants and on a 
page of the town's history. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 275 

The Mansion House gone, the new hotel was extended 
to Warren Avenue, and along that avenue to Front 
Street. Hardly two years had elapsed after the project 
of building a hotel had been conceived by Mr. Dow 
before it had been carried out to completion, and the 
Waverly House as we see it to-day was the grand result. 
A large and elegant building, with nearly five hun- 
dred feet front, including Abbotsford Hall, constructed 
in the most thorough manner, had been added by 
Moses A. Dow to the real-estate of Charlestown, at 
an expense of nearly ^500,000, and stood there the 
evidence of his courage, great energy of character, and 
deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of his chosen 
place of residence. 

September 20, 1890. 



276 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XLV 

The Dow Banquet 

Expressions of Esteem and Appreciation for a Public-Spirited 
Man — The Famous Waverley Magazine. 

IN the last chapter we looked at the completed 
Waverley House, and contrasted it with the old 
buildings which made up that side of Charlestown 
Square before Mr. Dow's improving hand was laid upon 
it. Surely his enterprise and public spirit were worthy 
of the thanks and admiration of his fellow-citizens, and 
when the house was completed and opened they were 
desirous of an opportunity to give expression to their 
gratification and pride in what he had accomplished. To 
this end a complimentary dinner was proposed, and the 
following correspondence took place : 

Honorable Moses A. Dow : 

Dear Sir — A large number of your fellow-citizens, 
congratulating you upon your grand success in the com- 
pletion of the Waverley House, which stands a lasting 
monument of your enterprise and an ornament and 
benefit to the city, are desirous of testifying in some 
acceptable manner their appreciation of the great public 
service you have rendered to Charlestown, and also their 
high regard for your energy, integrity, and personal 
worth. The undersigned, on behalf of a general com- 
mittee appointed for that purpose, do therefore most 
respectfully and cordially invite you to give those whom 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 277 

they represent the honor of your company at dinner 
with them at the Waverley House, on such day as you 
may be pleased to name, at seven o'clock p. m. 

(Signed) Charles Robinson, Jr., James Adams, 
Richard Frothingham, Liverus Hull, 
G. Washington Warren, H. G. Hutch- 
ins, James Dana, Timothy T. Sawyer, 
P. J. Stone. 

To the above missive Mr. Dow replied as follows : 

Gentlemen — I have received your kind note inviting 
me to an entertainment inaugurated by the citizens of 
Charlestown as a compliment to me for the benefits I 
have conferred on the city by the erection of a first-class 
hotel. It affords me great pleasure to know that it is 
thought a benefit, and also that it is considered a suc- 
cessful experiment. Therein lies my reward. Though 
my presence will not materially add to the entertainment, 
I shall be pleased to meet my fellow-citizens, if agreeable, 
on the evening of Thursday, the 21st, or any other 
evening that your committee may consider the most 
convenient. I have the honor to be most respectfully 
yours, Moses A. Dow. 

Nov. 13, 1867. 

On the evening named by Mr. Dow, Thursday, 
November 21, 1867, two hundred and fifty citizens of 
Charlestown were assembled in the parlors of the new 
hotel. The company was composed of prominent, active, 
and business men who had met together to show their 
appreciation of the character and services of their able 
and enterprising townsman, who had successfully com- 
pleted a great work and who was present with them to 
return their greetings, receive their congratulations, and 
accept their thanks. From the parlors, in due time, the 



278 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

company proceeded to the elegant dining-hall, where the 
complimentary dinner had been prepared by the lessee 
and landlord, Daniel Chamberlain, in a style which gave 
good promise for the future of the hotel table. 

The dinner was presided over by His Honor, Liverus 
Hull, then Mayor of the city, and all the ex-mayors were 
present. Captain William W. Pierce, and E. B. Haskell, 
of The Boston Herald^ who was an esteemed resident of 
Charlestown for some years, were toast-masters. The 
opening speech of Mayor Hull was appropriate, and 
excellent in sentiment and delivery, and the response of 
Mr. Dow was thoughtful and to the point. 

" I did not," he said, " undertake the work solely as a 
money-making operation, but rather for the purpose of 
improving a portion of the city which had been neg- 
lected, and in order to infuse a spirit of energy and 
improvement in our midst. In doing this I may not 
have been entirely free from selfishness, for it must be 
confessed I have experienced much pleasure and some 
pride in being able to connect my name with a prominent 
improvement which is somewhat of a public nature." 
He continued : " I cannot let the occasion pass without 
expressing satisfaction as to the just and liberal spirit 
with which my views have been seconded by the past and 
present mayors, Robinson and Hull, and their associates, 
who correctly appreciated the work I had undertaken for 
the public good, and in doing so secured numerous and 
permanent advantages to the city." 

The toast-masters were happy in their allusions to 
those present, and called up many speakers, all of whom 
referred to the guest of the evening with emphatic 
expressions of respect and admiration. Some of the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 279 

speeches, especially those of Honorable Richard Froth- 
ingham and Rev. James B. Miles, were of marked 
excellence. It was an interesting and enjoyable occa- 
sion. A full account of it can be found in The Bunker 
Hill Aui'ora of Saturday, November 23, 1867, preserved 
in the Public Library. 

Mr. Dow resided in Charlestown more than twenty 
years before the completion of the Waverley House. 
He was a practical printer and had met with many 
reverses before he established The Waverley Magazine 
in 1849. From that time his business career was 
successful, and he speedily accumulated a fortune. He 
was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, in 18 10, and 
remained there and in Franconia, New Hampshire, until 
he was fourteen years old. He always retained his love 
for these places and remembered them from time to 
time with liberal gifts. In Franconia he founded an 
academy and erected a fine building for its use. He 
restored and kept in order the cemetery, assisted gen- 
erously in the erection of the churches, and gave to each 
a bell. Dow Academy is now in a flourishing condition. 
In his will Mr. Dow made provision for its support, and 
after his death the executors of his estate paid over 
^65,000 to the managers of the institution to be used 
for this purpose. 

In his will he remembered our Old Ladies' Home 
with a bequest of $10,000, the greatest amount re- 
ceived into its treasury from one person. In disposing 
of his large estate he recognized conscientiously and 
considered carefully his obligations and duties to his 
family and kindred, and the provisions of his will, in 
their behalf, were liberal, just, and wise. He was broad- 



28o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

minded and considerate in his instructions to his 
executors and trustees. He was always generous to his 
friends, and the sum of his gifts to them, before his 
death and by bequests in his will, if it could be stated, 
would be very large. 

The Waverley Magazine was founded by Mr. Dow and 
started by him upon a plan differing from that of any 
other periodical. On the first day of July, 1890, its 
eighty-first volume was commenced, and the soundness 
of his judgment as to what would be acceptable to a 
large class of readers has been proved by forty years of 
success. He took great pride in the paper, spared no 
expense in its mechanical appearance, was industrious 
and careful in the examination of its contents, and was 
rewarded by a fortune, his use of which we have in some 
measure described. The Waverley Magazine of to-day 
bears the same character it has held all through its 
long existence. It lays no claim to superior intellectual 
ability. It provides its readers in each issue with a 
number of completed stories, written especially for the 
paper by contributors from all parts of the country ; 
with selections from books and periodicals made by com- 
petent editors, furnishing valuable information on all 
subjects to a class of readers who would hardly receive 
it through any other medium. It devotes a small space 
to amusements, puzzles, and games, and a full page to 
music. The horrors, the scandals, the contentions, the 
political jugglery of the day find no place in its columns. 
It goes to its subscribers weekly with nothing disturbing, 
but much that is restful in its influence — an unpreten- 
tious and clean periodical, adapted to the needs and 
reading-opportunities of a large class of people. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 281 

On the comer of Warren Avenue and Front Street, 
under the hotel, in what was for some time known as 
Waverley Hall, is a compact, finely-arranged printing- 
establishment. There the work commenced by Mr. 
Dow is continued, and busy heads and hands are em- 
ployed in preparing The Waverley Magazine for weekly 
distribution. It has still a large circulation and is yet a 
valuable property. 

Charlestown should think well of The Waverley Maga- 
zine, It gave to Mr. Dow his means of usefulness, and 
he chose his own dwelling-place as the scene of his 
enterprise and labor, and made his largest expenditure 
of money in its improvement. For what he did, a debt 
of gratitude is due to him from the town, and the duty 
is imposed upon it of keeping his memory fresh on the 
pages of its history. 

October i i, 1890. 



282 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XLVI 
William Gray and Joshua Bates 

Frederic Tudor and the First Shipment of Ice. 

THE financial embarassment of the great English 
firm of Baring Brothers & Co., recently announced, 
caused great astonishment and alarm, and had it 
not been for the fact that the Bank of England, the 
Rothschilds, and other great banking-houses came to 
their relief at once, its disastrous effect all over the world 
could hardly be estimated. For a very long period of 
time, " As good as Baring Brothers & Co." has been 
almost a proverb, and the exalted standing of the house 
in times past is well shown in this quotation, put into a 
history of the firm published in The Bost07i Tinnscript 
of November 15, 1890: "There are six great powers 
in Europe," said the Due de Richelieu — ** England, 
France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Baring Brothers." 
But it is the closing remark in the historical sketch of 
The Transcript that I desire particularly to refer to in 
this article : " Two of the most celebrated members of 
this firm have been Americans by birth — Joshua Bates 
and Russell Sturgis." 

Joshua Bates in early life was for some time a resident 
in Charlestown. He was a clerk for William Gray. 
That distinguished merchant was for a long time the 
owner of the wharf leading from Water Street which 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 283 

continued to bear his name (Gray's Wharf) until the 
transformation of all the wharf property between Charles 
River Bridge and the Navy Yard was made by the 
Hoosac Tunnel Dock and Elevator Company. 

** Billy " Gray, as he was called, purchased this wharf 
estate in 1803 of Jonathan Phillips, Jr., and Oliver 
Holden, and made it a scene of great activity and 
business enterprise for years thereafter. Many of his 
large fleet of vessels were fitted out and their return 
cargoes landed and stored here, and everything was done 
by him to make the place a convenient and profitable 
headquarters for his extensive trade and commerce. 
Among other things a supply of fresh water was provided 
by the purchase of a famous well situated in Winthrop 
Street, in the yard of a house still standing, where 
Charles W. Sawyer spent his childhood. The water was 
conveyed to the wharf through a wooden conduit. The 
logs of which it was composed have often been exposed 
when excavations have since been made in the streets. 

In a large wooden building half-way down the wharf 
was the office in which Mr. Bates was employed. This 
building was one of those taken down when the wharf 
was purchased by the Elevator Company. The late 
James Hunnewell, who was one of the board of directors 
of the Charlestown Land and Wharf Company in 1843, 
told the writer, on the spot, that he remembered Joshua 
Bates as he had seen him at his desk in this office, busy 
in his duties as a wharf clerk. 

But Joshua Bates soon outgrew this position. He 
was sent to Europe by Mr. Gray to look after his busi- 
ness there, and went on, step by step, a successful 
business man, until he became a member of the historic 



284 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

firm of Baring Brothers & Co., of London, England. 
Mr. Bates was a leading partner in the house during its 
years of greatest success, and was distinguished for his j 
great ability as a merchant and financier. He is best ~ 
remembered here, perhaps, for his generosity to the 
Boston Public Library. One gift of his, of fifty j 
thousand dollars, in the early days of the institution, 
had much to do with its standing, growth, and prosperity. 
His name was given to the hall (Bates Hall) which now 
contains a collection of books of great value, many 
thousand volumes of which, besides his contributions in 
money, were gifts from him. 

At one time in the life of William Gray he is said to 
have had more than sixty sail of square-rigged vessels on 
the ocean. In a former article I referred to the ship 
Union, built in 1 8 1 5 by Josiah Barker for Mr. Gray, to 
be used as a privateer, and to her alteration into an East 
Indiaman at Gray's Wharf, after peace was declared. 

John Quincy Adams was appointed minister to Russia 
in 1809, by President Madison, and on the 5th of August 
of that year, with his wife and his youngest child, he 
sailed on the merchant ship Horace, from Gray's Wharf 
in Charlestown, for Saint Petersburg. The vessel was 
fitted out by William Gray. The passage was long 
(seventy-five days) and stormy. 

From these facts we can form some idea of what was 
going on at Gray's Wharf from 1803 to 181 5, when its 
owner, one of the most eminent and courageous mer- 
chants of his time, was making it frequent, perhaps 
daily, visits, planning and directing the operations and 
affairs of a large commercial business. 

In 1 806 Frederic Tudor purchased the brig Favorite 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 285 

expressly for the purpose of shipping a cargo of ice to 
Martinique in the West Indies. The vessel was hauled 
to Gray's Wharf in Charlestown and loaded there with 
one hundred and thirty tons of ice which had been cut 
from a pond on the grounds of Mr. Tudor's father in 
the part of Lynn now Saugus. This was the beginning 
of the business — the first cargo of ice ever shipped. 
Mr. Tudor went with the cargo to its port of destination. 
The second shipment, consisting of two hundred and 
forty tons, was made in 1807, per brig Tridenty to 
Havana. These early attempts were attended with 
heavy losses, but the business struggled against all 
manner of discouragement for twenty years. During 
that period the embargo was laid and the war with Great 
Britain took place. Success finally crowned the under- 
taking by the action of the Spanish government in Cuba 
in granting certain privileges and a monopoly. 

After a time the introduction of ice to warm countries 
was looked upon with great favor, and shippers were 
offered strong inducements by the governments and 
leading business men to establish permanent places for 
its sale. Ice came to be considered absolutely essential 
to health and was used largely in the treatment of 
diseases. When Edward Everett was minister to the 
court of Saint James and was introduced to the Persian 
Ambassador at that court, the first words which the 
latter addressed to him were to express his obligations 
to Americans for the good they had done to Persia in 
sending her ice. 

The trade was carried on almost wholly by the 
originator until about the year 1836, when other parties 
engaged in it. It continued to center around Gray's 



286 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Wharf for fifty years, extending both ways to the 
other wharves along Water Street, the facilities for cheap 
ice and low freights keeping the trade where it began 
and at the same spot for shipment. It was attempted 
from other places, but without success. The growth of 
the business can be seen by the following decennial 
statement: 1806, one cargo, 130 tons; 18 16, six car- 
goes, 1200 tons ; 1826, fifteen cargoes, 4000 tons ; 1836, 
forty-five cargoes, 12,000 tons; 1846, seventy-five car- 
goes, 65,000 tons ; 1856, three hundred and sixty-three 
cargoes, 146,000 tons. 

The exports in the last named year, 1856, were made 
to the following places : 

Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Alexandria, George- 
town, Richmond, Wilmington, Washington (North Car- 
olina), Newbern, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, Pensa- 
cola, Appalachicola, Key West, New Orleans, Franklin 
(Louisiana), Thibodeauxville (Louisiana), Galveston, In- 
dianola (Texas), Aspinwall, Nassau, Saint Thomas, 
Havana, Matanzas, Saint lago, Saint John's (Porto Rico), 
Barbadoes, Cardenas, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadaloupe, 
Kingston, Laguayra, Demerara, Bahia, Pernambuco, 
Buenos Ayres, Rio Janeiro, Valparaiso, Callao, Guayaquil, 
Ceylon, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Batavia, Manilla, 
Singapore, Canton, Mauritius, Australia. 

Besides Mr. Tudor, during the period from 1836 to 
i860, the parties engaged in the shipment of ice from 
the Charlestown wharves leading from Water Street 
were Leonard Stone, Read & Stedman, Barnard, Stearns 
& Gage, Hill & Hittinger, Gage, Hittinger & Co., 
Daniel Draper, Gage, Sawyer & Co., Russell, Harring- 
ton & Co., concerning whom and the business since 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 287 

1 860 much more might be written. The firm of Gage, 
Hittinger & Co., established in 1842, was composed 
of Addison Gage, Jacob Hittinger, Timothy T. Sawyer, 
and Thomas H. Frothingham. Mr. Frothingham died 
in 1850, and Mr. Hittinger afterwards sold his interest 
to Dr. Henry Lyon, when the style of the firm was 
changed to Gage, Sawyer & Co. For one year this 
concern loaded nearly a vessel a day (large and small) 
for every working-day in the year. After i860 the 
business was carried on by Addison Gage & Co., Mr. 
Gage having purchased the interest of his partners. 
His son, Charles O. Gage, was associated with him, and 
since the death of his father, in October, 1868, Charles, 
in connection with his brother-in-law, Reuben Hopkins, 
has continued the business under the same firm name. 
They now occupy what is known as Tudor's Wharf, 
adjoining Charles River Bridge. 

The late Arthur Harrington was brought up with 
A. Gage & Co., and for some time before his death was 
a partner in the firm. 

December 13, 1890. 



288 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



XLVII 

Nathaniel Gorham 

One of the Most Eminent Citizens in the History of Charles- 
town — Town Hill as it was in the Early Days — The 
Old Town Hall. 

IN The Charlestown Enterprise of Saturday, October 
1 8, 1890, were given some extracts from a speech 
made in Charlestown by Dr. WiUiam Everett a short 
time before, and among them is the following : 

When I think that a Charlestown ancestor of mine 
signed the Constitution of the United States, I am glad 
to come back to Charlestown to vindicate the principles 
of that Constitution. 

Doctor Everett made another speech at the anniver- 
sary dinner of the New England Society in New York, 
December 20, and again referred to his ancestor in the 
following remarks : 

I suppose at this dinner on the Forefathers' Day the 
first thing is for every one to substantiate his pedigree 
from the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, and I beg to claim 
descent from John Rowland, the young man who, during 
the voyage, fell over the side and with difficulty managed 
to swing himself up by the stern chains, but who lived 
to be the last survivor in the town of Plymouth of that 
sainted company. His daughter. Desire Howland, 
married Captain John Gorham of Barnstable, who died 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 289 

of fever contracted in the Swamp Fight with King 
Philip ; and from him descended Nathaniel Gorham, 
president of the Continental Congress and signer of the 
Constitution of the United States, whose great-grandson 
I have the honor to be. 

Doctor Everett had a right to be proud of his great- 
grandfather, for he was an eminent man — one of the 
ablest in the history of old Charlestown citizens. 

Nathaniel Gorham was born in Charlestown, May 27, 
1738, and died here, June 11, 1796. His house was on 
the spot now occupied by the brick store of A. N. 
Swallow & Co. It was of wood, of moderate size, and 
fronted on the Square. Around it and in its rear was a 
garden. It adjoined the garden of the parsonage, and 
through these grounds Mr. Gorham was accustomed to 
walk to the meeting-house on Town Hill. 

The meeting-house, of wood, then stood on nearly the 
same spot now occupied by the present handsome brick 
meeting-house of the First Church Society. The par- 
sonage was near it, on land covered now by the upper 
end of the brick block between the church and City 
Hall.* This whole block of nine houses is on what was 



* This block was erected by the Parish Land Company, composed of 
James Hunnewell, Josiah Barker, Ebenezer Barker, Captain William 
Henry, Oilman Stanley, Josiah Reed, Shadrach Vamey, and Captain 
Lemuel Stetson. It has been known as Harvard Row. The first occu- 
pants were Lemuel Stetson, John Doane, Jr., Oilman Stanley, Josiah 
Reed, Ebenezer Barker, Elias Davison, and Otis Vinal. Some of the 
occupants since that time were Henry A. Pierce, Samuel N. Felton, 
Ezra Hutchins, and Henry C. Hutchins. On the opposite side of Har- 
vard Street, in the brick house on the corner of Harvard and Arrow 
streets, James H, Beal, the successful financier and president of the 
Second National Bank, lived for several years. 



290 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

then the parsonage land and garden. Very near the 
parsonage was a barn, and later, on the land nearly down 
to City Hall, was built a chapel where meetings were 
held on week-day evenings. On the corner of Town 
Hill (now Harvard Street), fronting on the Square, was 
a tavern, known for a long time as Robbins' Tavern. 
This tavern estate was purchased in 1815 by Seth 
Knowles and Thomas Harris and sold to the town in 
1 8 16 as a site for a Town Hall. In 1818 a Town Hall 
was built ; the convenient and goodly structure which 
many of us remember, and which answered fully the 
wants of the town until it became a city in 1847, ^^^ 
the city afterwards until 1 868, when it was torn down 
and the present City Hall erected. 

There was no photographic art to picture and preserve 
the appearance of this hill-side in a former time, but it 
does not seem difficult to brush away in imagination the 
structures which now cover it, and to see with the mind's 
eye the tavern at its foot, with the usual surroundings 
of such a place ; the open field and garden behind it 
running up to the parsonage ; the roadway leading to 
that and to the old church crowning the top of the hill, 
while a little way from the tavern fronting on the Square 
is the modest wooden mansion, the home of Nathaniel 
Gorham, whose birth and residence in Charlestown added 
greatly to its fame, and concerning whom one of the 
most distinguished American orators of a later time says 
in a published address : "He was one of the most intel- 
ligent, respected, and influential citizens of Massachusetts, 
and few have ever equaled him in foresight and breadth 
of conception." 

Before the beginning of the Revolutionary War 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 291 

Nathaniel Gorham had been a prominent man in the 
town. He was its representative in 1 771 -'7 5, and a 
delegate to the Provincial Congress in i774-'75 ; again 
a member of the Legislature, and a member of the 
Board of War from 1778 mitil its dissolution ; a delegate 
to the State Convention in 1779 J ^ delegate to the old 
Congress in 1782-83 and in 1785-87, being chosen its 
president, June 4, 1786; and he was for several years 
judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In the conven- 
tion which framed the Federal Constitution he took high 
rank, and while in committee of the whole he was called 
by Washington to fill the chair for three months and 
exerted a powerful influence in securing the adoption of 
the Constitution in the State Convention. 

Judge Gorham was one of the projectors of the 
Charles River Bridge. He was associated with Oliver 
Phelps in the purchase of an immense tract of land 
on the Genesee River, which now comprises several 
counties in the State of New York ; and his eldest son, 
Nathaniel, became a pioneer settler there. He died at 
Canandaigua, October 22, 1826. The first land-office in 
America was opened in Canandaigua by Oliver Phelps ; 
and his system of survey by townships and ranges was 
the model for all subsequent surveys. 

Benjamin Gorham, the distinguished lawyer, and 
member of Congress for three terms from the Boston 
district, was a son of Nathaniel Gorham and was born 
and spent his childhood and youth in Charlestown. 
Stephen Gorham, another son, one of the original 
founders of the Harvard Church, always made Charles- 
town his home, and died here, June 22, 1849. Nathaniel 
Gorham 's daughters were the wives of Warham Parks, 



292 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Dr. George Bartlett, John Phillips, and Honorable Peter 
Chardon Brooks, the grandfather of William Everett. 

The circumstances attendant upon the death of Judge 
Gorham are given in the following letter, written by 
Commissary Devens to his minister, Doctor Morse, who 
was absent at the time on a journey in the State of 
New York : 

The day after you left us was held our monthly even- 
ing lecture. The Honorable Mr. Gorham was present, 
and had seemed for some days past in better than usual 
health. Returning home through his garden (the near- 
est way from the church) with Mrs. Gorham and his 
daughter, Mrs. Bartlett, he told them he found difficulty 
in speaking. " You are notional," replied Mrs. Gorham, 
with her usual pleasantness. When he got into his 
home his face was pale, and perceiving that they noticed 
it, he said, '* You are frightened now." Medical aid was 
promptly procured ; but in vain. A paralysis took place, 
apoplexy followed, and on Saturday he left us. 

At the funeral (the largest ever known in Charles- 
town) the flags were at half-mast. The sermon by 
Doctor Thatcher, and the eulogy by Thomas Welch, 
M.D., were printed at the expense of the town and a 
copy given to each family within its limits. 

January io, 1891. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 293 



XLVIII 
A Famous Controversialist 

Dr. Jedidiah Morse — His Ministry in Charlestown — His 
Sons — The Great Invention which made S. F. B. Morse 
Famous. 

THE old church which stood on the Town Hill, and 
which was referred to in the previous section, was 
erected in 1783. On the 27th of October, 1782, 
the town made a grant of the Town Hill to the First 
Parish for the sole purpose of erecting thereon a house 
for the public worship of God, provided the said house 
be erected within the space of five years, otherwise the 
grant was to be void. The church was built, as we have 
said, in 1783, and opened for use, but had only temporary 
seats and an unfinished steeple until 1787. 

Up to that time there had been no regularly settled 
minister, but in January, 1787, Rev. Joshua Paine, Jr., 
a son of Rev. Joshua Paine, of Sturbridge, was ordained 
and settled over the society. He was a graduate of 
Harvard College, a very promising young man ; but his 
health failed, and in February, 1788, in the twenty-fifth 
year of his age, he died, sincerely lamented by all who 
ever knew him. 

On the 20th of November, 1788, a letter signed by 
Richard Carey, Nathaniel Gorham, John Larkin, and 
Thomas Miller in behalf of the church was sent to Rev. 



294 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Jedidiah Morse, who had preached two Sabbaths in the 
same month as a candidate, giving him a call to settle in 
the work of the gospel ministry among them. On the 
24th of November the parish held a meeting, presided 
over by James Russell, Esq., and voted unanimously to 
concur with the church in the choice of Rev. Jedidiah 
Morse to be pastor of this church and congregation. 
They fixed his salary at eleven dollars a week. He was 
to have firewood sufficient for his study until married, 
and when married was to be furnished with a dwelling- 
house and barn, and twenty cords of wood annually. 
These terms seem to have been entirely satisfactory to 
him, for in his reply he says : " The unanimity, the 
affection, and the generosity manifested in the call induce 
me and my friends to believe that it is the call of God, 
and that Providence is by this means pointing to Charles- 
town as the scene of my future ministerial labors " ; and 
before his installation he relinquished, in a letter sent to 
the society, one dollar per week of the cash payment. 
His acceptance of the call was with the understanding 
that his duties should not commence until the close of 
the winter or the beginning of the next spring. 

Jedidiah Morse was a graduate of Yale College in 
1783, and was for some time a tutor there. He was 
licensed to preach in September, 1785, and before 
coming to Charlestown had been settled in Norwich, 
Connecticut, for a year or two, and had occupied the 
pulpit of a church in Midway, Georgia, for something 
less than a year, and that of a Presbyterian church in 
New York for about the same length of time. He 
arrived in Charlestown, April 9, and his installation took 
place April 30, 1789 — the same day and at the same 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 295 

hour that Washington was inaugurated President of the 
United States. The Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap preached 
the sermon on the occasion. On the 14th of May, Rev. 
Mr. Morse was married, in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, to 
Miss EHzabeth Ann Breese, daughter of Samuel Breese 
of that place, and of Rebecca Finley, daughter of Rev. 
Dr. Samuel Finley, president of New Jersey College. 

The condition of things at the time the reverend 
gentleman commenced his ministry here may be judged 
by the following, copied from Doctor Sprague's life of 
Doctor Morse : 

Every circumstance attending Rev. Mr. Morse's set- 
tlement in Charlestown seemed to give promise of a 
happy ministry. The people composing the parish of 
which he took charge, though generally of the middle 
and plainer class, were capable of appreciating the excel- 
lent qualities of their new pastor ; while there were 
among them several distinguished for high intellectual 
culture, the finest moral and religious qualities, and a 
widely extended and most benign influence. He had 
just formed a matrimonial connection which was full of 
promise, not only to himself, but to his congregation ; 
for the lady who had become his wife possessed those 
attractive, generous, noble qualities which could not but 
render her a favorite wherever she was known. He had 
his home at first with his excellent friend, Richard Carey, 
a man of great worth and of high consideration in the 
community ; and in due time a parsonage was provided 
for him, contiguous to the meeting-house, which com- 
manded a fine view of Boston, Charles River, the harbor 
and islands, and much of the surrounding country. He 
was also within three miles of Harvard College, the 
oldest literary institution in the land, and he very early 
came into intimate relations with its president and several 
of its professors. The whole atmosphere around him 



296 OLD CHARLEST O W N 

was eminently intellectual ; the most cultivated society 
in Boston was always accessible to him ; and the minis- 
ters of the Boston Association, to which he belonged, 
received him with great cordiality, and he in turn grate- 
fully reciprocated their expressions of good will. 

In less than a year after Rev. Mr. Morse was installed, 
Richard Carey, who had warmly welcomed him to his new 
pastorate and kindly taken him with his wife to his home, 
had breathed his last. He died February, 1790. Mr. 
Morse was absent at the time on a journey, and on his 
return he preached a funeral sermon in which he paid 
a warm and grateful tribute to the memory of his friend. 
The sermon was printed, and was the first printed 
sermon of its author. 

On the 27th of April, 1791, his eldest son was born, | 
and to him was given the full name of his grandfather 
and the family name of his grandmother, Samuel Finley i 
Breese Morse. On the front of the old mansion, known 
as the Edes House, on Main Street, a little way from ,j 
the Harvard Church, is a marble tablet with this inscrip- 
tion : 

HERE WAS BORN 27th APRIL 1 79 1 

SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE 

INVENTOR OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH 

At the time of this birth Doctor Morse and his wife 
were living in this house with Thomas Edes, the ancestor 
of Mr. Henry H. Edes, from whose chapter entitled 
" Charlestown in the Last Hundred Years," published 
in the Memorial History of Boston, edited by Justin 
Winsor, we quote the following. Speaking of the old 
mansion, the oldest perhaps now standing in Charlestown, 
he says : 



I 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 297 

It is remarkable also as the birthplace of Samuel 
Finley Breese Morse (Yale College, 18 10), the inventor 
of the electric telegraph, who was born April 27, 1791, in 
the front chamber of the second story, on the right of the 
front-door entrance. A few months previous to that 
time his father, the Rev. Dr. Jedidiah Morse, had 
accepted the hospitality of his friend and parishioner, 
Mr. Thomas Edes, Sr., while the parsonage on Town 
Hill was building. Some delays occurring in the work 
the visit was prolonged until after the birth of his eldest 
and most distinguished child. 

Doctor Morse had a large family of children, all born 
in Charlestown. Three of his sons, Samuel F. B., 
Sidney Edwards, and Richard Carey, became eminent 
men. His other children died young ; among these 
were two who bore the names of his friends and 
parishioners, Thomas and James Russell. 

The engravings of Doctor Morse which I have seen 
represent him in advanced life, a long-visaged, white- 
haired man, with a very prominent nose, a large mouth, 
long upper lip, and penetrating, serious eyes. A full 
white neckcloth and closely buttoned black coat make 
his profession apparent, and his own high estimate of its 
sacredness and importance seems to stand out in the 
general effect of the picture. He was a resident of 
Charlestown and minister of the First Church for more 
than thirty years. His prominence among the clergy- 
men and literary men of his day is too well known to 
need any special mention at this time, but it can, perhaps, 
be referred to with propriety and remembered and used 
in an historical notice of the old town. As a preacher 
he stood high among the ablest of the denomination to 
which he belonged, and as a controversialist his place 



298 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

must have been very near, or quite, at the top of the 
list. Doctor Sprague, in referring to the Unitarian 
controversy, seems to think " his agency in conducting 
it was more marked as well as more continuous and 
protracted than that of any other minister on the 
orthodox side." 

About this time (1805) Doctor Morse started and 
published in Charlestown the religious periodical called 
The Panoplisty of which he was the proprietor and sole 
editor for some years. It was afterwards printed for 
a while in Boston, and later, as we have said in a former 
article, — when it was united with The Massachusetts 
Missionaiy Magazine^ — by Samuel T. Armstrong at 
his printing-office on Main Street. 

Doctor Morse had much to do with the founding of 
the Andover Theological Seminary. Many meetings of' 
the parties actively engaged in the enterprise were held 
in his study in the old parsonage-house, and some of 
the most important papers bearing upon its constitution 
and plan of work were drawn up there. The establish- 
ment of Park Street Church, in Boston, was another 
enterprise in which Doctor Morse took an active and 
prominent part, and which, it has been said, " he regarded 
as marking an epoch in the religious history of Massachu- 
setts." 

The old parsonage-house, which we have now several 
times referred to, was removed from Town Hill to Elm 
Street, where, on the corner of Hancock Street, it still 
stands. A mansard or French roof has taken the place 
of the former one, but otherwise it remains much as it 
was, and the room occupied by Doctor Morse as a study 
can, I think, be pointed out. If memory and speech 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 299 

could be given it, doubtless more information as regards 
the discussions and plans of the orthodox side of the 
controversy referred to could be got from it than from 
any other place. 

Doctor Morse took too decided ground on these 
questions to satisfy all his parishioners and keep his 
society united. A large number of its most intelligent 
and influential members dropped their connection with 
the First Church, quietly withdrew, and formed the 
Second Congregational, now the Harvard, Unitarian 
Church. 

Doctor Morse was the first chaplain of the Massachu- 
setts State Prison, and he did some effective work in 
getting the Navy Yard located in Charlestown. He 
took an active interest in politics, was an earnest and 
outspoken Federalist, and at times, by severe remarks 
from the pulpit, gave offense to parishioners who 
differed from him. Perhaps he sometimes showed more 
valor than discretion. He was in full sympathy with 
the views of the leading Federalists, and much in favor 
of the treaty known as Jay's Treaty, which was ratified 
in 1795. But there were those in town who did not 
agree with him on this subject, and on a certain evening 
the effigy of Mr. Jay was burnt by a tumultuous assem- 
blage in Charlestown Square. The doctor happened at 
the time to be at Judge Gorham's, before whose door 
the tragic farce was enacted. Against the better judg- 
ment of his friends, but in obedience to his own patriotic 
impulses, he went out to remonstrate with the mob ; but 
scarcely had he made his appearance there when a blow 
on the head from a brickbat rendered it necessary that 
he should be taken home. He was not, however. 



300 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

seriously injured. One of his friends who called to 
ascertain the extent of his injuries inquired if his brain 
was hurt ; to which he rejoined : *' No ; if I had had 
any brains I should not have been there." 

After leaving Charlestown he was commissioned by 
the United States Government to visit the Indian tribes 
of the Northwest, and in 1822 he made an elaborate 
report as to their condition and as to what was needful 
to promote their welfare which was printed in a volume 
of five hundred pages. He had before been connected, 
as its secretary, with the Society for Propagating the 
Gospel among the Indians, — the society to which a very 
large bequest had been made by John Alford, of Charles- 
town. He was also corresponding secretary of the 
Massachusetts Emigrant Society, of which Honorable 
Thomas Russell was president ; and he was actively 
interested in many other philanthropic and literary 
institutions. 

As is well known, he was the Father of American 
geography. His first work for the use of schools was 
prepared before he left New Haven in 1784. His larger 
works were reprinted in Europe. " Morse's Geography " 
was in use in the Town Hill School when the writer 
became a member in 1825. He published a history of 
New England in 1804, and, the same year, "Annals of 
the American Revolution." His printed sermons and 
other works were numerous, and they make a long list 
in Mr. Hunnewell's "Bibliography of Charlestown and 
Bunker Hill." 

The early life of Samuel F. B. Morse was spent in 
his native place, and he was a Charlestown schoolboy. 
He was fitted for college, entered Yale, and graduated 
in 1 8 10, when he was twenty years old. The next year 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 301 

he went to England with Washington Allston as an art 
student, having previously developed a taste and talent 
for painting. One of his early pictures, *' The Landing 
of the Pilgrims," is now hanging in the delivery-room of 
our Public Library. For many years it was over the 
entrance-door in the old Town Hall. He studied paint- 
ing in England with Allston and Benjamin West, the 
distinguished American painters. To the study of 
painting he added that of sculpture. His " Dying 
Hercules," of colossal size, was exhibited in the Royal 
Academy in 18 13, and he received a gold medal from 
the London Adelphi for a plaster model of the same 
subject which he made to assist him in his picture. In 
London he formed an intimacy with C. R. Leslie, and 
the first portraits by these artists, painted in London, 
were likenesses of each other. He returned home in 
18 1 5, practised his profession for a while in Boston, then 
in New Hampshire, then in Charleston, South Carolina, 
and afterwards in New York, where he painted a full- 
length portrait of Lafayette, who was on a visit to this 
country. The portrait of Noah Webster, engraved as a 
frontispiece to his dictionary, is from a painting by 
S. F. B. Morse. In 1824, in connection with some 
other artists of New York, he organized a drawing 
association, which resulted in the establishment in 1826 
of the present National Academy of Design. Mr. 
Morse was its first president, and was re-elected to that 
office for sixteen years. He went to Europe again in 
1829 to prosecute more extensively his studies in art, 
residing in the principal cities on the continent for three 
or four years. While there he was elected to the 
professorship of the literature of the arts of design in 
the University of New York, and in 1835 he delivered 



302 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

a course of lectures before that institution upon art. 
But he was always deeply interested in various depart- 
ments of science, and especially in chemistry. While 
at Yale College he had pursued the study of chemistry 
and natural philosophy with enthusiasm, and his love for 
scientific research and experiment continued to increase 
after he left college, until it became his controlling 
pursuit. In 1826 he was a colleague lecturer with 
Professor Dana at the Athenaeum in New York city, 
lecturing upon the fine arts while Professor Dana 
lectured upon electro-magnetism. The first electro- 
magnet ever exhibited in the United States belonged to 
Professor Morse, and the spiral coil used by Professor 
Dana suggested the electro-magnet, which is used in 
every Morse's telegraph throughout the world. 

Professor Morse was again in Europe in i829-'32, 
and in the fall of the latter year, when returning home 
on board the packet -ship Stilly y — while engaged in a 
casual conversation with some of the passengers on the 
then recent discovery in France of the means of obtain- 
ing the electric spark from the magnet, showing the 
identity of electricity and magnetism, — he conceived 
not merely the idea of the electric telegraph, but of an 
electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegraph, sub- 
stantially and essentially as it now exists. There is no 
question as to this origin of the present telegraph. On 
his return to New York he resumed his profession, 
but devoted all his spare time to the perfection of his 
invention. After much difficulty and discouragement 
he demonstrated the practicability of his invention by 
completing and putting in operation in the New York 
University a model of his '' Recording Electric Tel- bj 
egraph," the greater part of the apparatus having been Y 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 303 

made by himself. In 1837 he filed his caveat at the 
Patent Office in Washington, and perfected his patent 
in 1840; and in 1844 the first electric telegraph in 
the United States was completed, extending between 
Baltimore and Washington. 

I have gathered this information concerning the tele- 
graph from various reliable sources, drawing largely but 
not wholly upon an article which appeared in Harper s 
Weekly soon after the death of Mr. Morse, April 2, 1872, 
from which I quote the following on the outcome of 
the wonderful invention of the distinguished man whose 
birth and early life, we are glad to remember, must ever 
be connected with the history of Charlestown : 

In the twenty-eight years since its first establishment, 
its lines have gone out through all the earth. They ex- 
tend upon this continent, in various directions, more 
than fifty thousand miles. They climb the Rocky 
Mountains and stretch across the lonely plain to the 
Golden Gate of the Pacific. The system is adopted in 
every country of the Eastern continent from the extreme 
north of Russia, where the wires seem to be almost 
linked with the Arctic Circle, to those that are sweeping 
up the Pacific coast to Behring Strait ; down the Italian 
and Spanish Peninsulas they dive beneath the sea to 
Egypt, and find their way over deserts and under oceans 
to the far East. No part of the civilized world is with- 
out the electric girdle, and even across the Atlantic 
three great cables have established telegraphic communi- 
cation between the Eastern and Western worlds. 

Acknowledgment of the value of the discovery of 
Professor Morse came to him from all quarters. Kings, 
queens, and emperors vied with each other in honoring 
him with medals, badges, decorations, and titles. Col- 
leges, national academies, and scientific associations com- 



304 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

plimented him with honorary degrees and membership, 
and all the world seemed ready to gratify him with an 
expression of appreciation of what he had accomplished. 
The adoption of his system, by a convention held in 
1 88 1 for the purpose of deciding upon a uniform system 
of telegraphing for all Germany, was a most gratifying 
result, but the crowning mark of honor was in the 
collective testimonials of France, Russia, Sweden, Bel- 
gium, Holland, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, Turkey, and 
the Roman Pontificate, amounting to four hundred 
thousand francs, presented to him as a personal reward 
and recompense for his invention. 

In 1839, while in Paris, Professor Morse made the 
acquaintance of M. Daguerre, and from drawings fur- 
nished by him he constructed, on his return, the first 
daguerreotype apparatus and took the first sun-pictures 
ever taken in America. This was the same year that 
Daguerre first gave his discovery to the world. 

Another son of Doctor Morse, Sidney Edwards, 
graduated from Yale College in 181 1. He established 
The Boston Recorder in 18 15, and was its sole editor and 
proprietor for fifteen years. In 18 17, in connection 
with his brother, he invented and patented the flexible 
piston pump. He published geographical text-books, 
and with his younger brother, Richard Carey, established 
The New York Obsenwry the oldest religious newspaper 
in New York State. He also produced, by a new art, 
termed cereography, map-prints much superior to those 
before known. 

February 14, 1891. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 305 



XLIX 
Crafts' Corner 

The Boylston House — The Boylstons and the Hays, Early 
Settlers and Large Holders of Real-Estate. 



A 



T the junction of Main and Warren streets, oppo- 
site Austin Street, there stood previous to 1870, 
for many years, an old wooden building, two 
stories high, with a pitched roof. In one end of the 
lower story of this building, looking directly up Main 
Street, was a store, the windows of which were orna- 
mented with bottles and jars of fanciful shapes, filled 
with highly colored water of various shades, attractive 
in the daylight, and made doubly so after dark by lights 
reflected upon them for the purpose. Projecting from 
the corner of the building, on an iron frame above the 
windows, was a good-sized gilded mortar and pestle. 
This was the apothecary-store of Dr. Elias Crafts, Jr., 
and his occupancy of it gave the junction of the two 
streets before mentioned the name of Crafts' Corner. 
The old building referred to had for a very long period 
been known as the Boylston house. 

In 1869 the City Council of Charlestown passed an 
order to cut off this corner and enlarge the public 
square. To accomphsh this the Boylston house was 
destroyed and its history concluded. What I am intend- 



3o6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

ing in this chapter is to give a sketch of the history of 
this old estate, adding somewhat about other old estates 
and residents in its vicinity. 

Before doing this I will say a word more in relation 
to the improvement in the square. It was ordered by 
the City Council on the promise of the owner of the 
adjoining estate — who would be greatly benefited by 
the change — that he would at once erect a handsome 
brick building that should be an ornament to the site and 
to the city. The promise was not in writing, and was 
not fulfilled, much to the disappointment and disgust of 
some of us who, on the strength of the promise referred 
to, had advocated and urged the taking of more land than 
the original plan of the Council contemplated. 

Nevertheless, the enlargement of the square was a 
needful public improvement, as was soon made evident 
by the erection of the elegant stone building of the 
Charlestown Five Cent Savings Bank, and its occu- 
pancy by that institution and by the Monument 
National Bank, the Charlestown Gas Company, the 
Mutual Protection Insurance Company, the model 
apothecary-store of B. F. Stacey, and Cobb's modern 
grocery-store, saying nothing of the palatial quarters 
afforded by it to the lodges and other institutions of the 
order of Free Masons, always so flourishing in Charles- 
town. The wooden building fronting upon this square 
at the junction of the two streets is hardly worthy of 
the site it occupies ; but it is as good, perhaps, as it was 
expedient to place on leased land. A structure such as 
was promised will, I hope, some day be erected there. 

Crafts' Corner is a thing of the past. In its place we 
now have Thompson Square, the name given to it, after 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 307 

annexation, by the City Council of Boston, the title being 
suggested by the fact that three members of the old 
family of that name, each of whom had been prominent 
in public affairs, had long resided in this vicinity and 
died here respected and honored by their neighbors and 
fellow-citizens. 

The building, a part of which was formerly occupied 
by Doctor Crafts, was the property of Mrs. Mercy 
Boylston, widow of Thomas Boylston, she having inher- 
ited it from her father, John Hay. She lived to a good 
old age, occupying the other part of it for more than 
half a century. It was erected by her father upon the 
site of his former homestead which was destroyed in the 
conflagration of June 17, 1775. There is good reason 
for the belief that it was the first frame house built in 
the town after the battle of Bunker Hill. In the 
centennial number of TJie Bunker Hill TimeSy June 
17, 1875, Charles R. Byram, the editor of that paper, 
published an article written by Abram E, Cutter, 
under the head of " Centennial Reminiscences," which, 
in this connection, is very interesting and which, with 
the approval of Mr. Cutter, I copy entire : 

To the Editor of The Bwiker Hill Times — 

As the centennial approaches, every incident, however 
small, relating to the early period of the Revolution 
possesses interest. Having heard the following incidents 
related by one who received the account from the lips of 
the actor herself, they may be worth presenting to your 
readers. Mrs. Mercy Boylston, one of those good old 
women who was an aunt to everybody, lived with her 
father, Mr. John Hay, in 1775, in a house at Crafts' 
Corner which was burned on the day of the battle. At 
that time she was ten years old, and during the retreat 



3o8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of the British from Lexington she was taken by her 
mother and hid in the arch of the chimney in the cellar. 
Afterwards, when the excitement had somewhat subsided, 
she escaped into the garret and commenced throwing 
corn-cobs from the window at the soldiers' guns which 
they had stacked in front of the house. Several of the 
soldiers caught up their guns to fire at the offender, 
when an of^cer who was standing at a bake-house on the 
opposite side of the street, where Mr. Gage's crockery- 
ware store now is, called to them to desist, as it was only 
the freak of a little girl. 

Mr. Hay left his house on the morning of the 1 7th of 
June, having a few days previously sent his family to 
Wilmington. He returned the next spring immediately 
after the evacuation of Boston by the British, and built 
another house on the exact spot of the former one, and 
after the same plan as the one burned, with the kitchen 
in the middle of the house. The timber was of solid 
oak, and was cut in Wilmington by a Mr. Brown, at 
whose house Mr. Hay had been staying with his 
family. 

This house was the first framed house built in Charles- 
town after the town was burnt. Portions of the barracks 
left by the British were taken by some of the inhabitants 
and made into temporary dwellings, but no framed house 
was built previously to this one. Mrs. Boylston inherited 
it and lived in it till within a short time of her death. 
She died in 1849, aged eighty-four years. 

The front room of the Boylston house was first occu- 
pied as a store by Dr. George Bartlett, apothecary, and 
afterwards by the firm of Masters & Simonds, who kept 
the ladies of the town supplied with fashionable slippers 
and shoes. The store was newly fitted up in 1828, by 
Elias Crafts, Jr., who for the twenty-three years follow- 
ing could always be found there with a stock of med- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 309 

icines, nostrums, and fancy goods equal to the wants of 
the townspeople, whose confidence in his skill as an 
apothecary and his character as a man was full and com- 
plete. He had been educated in the old store of Samuel 
Kidder & Co., was known and liked by all the physicians, 
was popular with the young people, and was successful, 
as he deserved to be, in the business which he had under- 
taken. 

How much that is pleasant and enjoyable clusters 
around the memory of Doctor Crafts' store ! How 
many good fellows were wont to meet there, not as 
loungers, but on their way to and from their places of 
business to exchange greetings and compare notes on 
the news of the day, — for this was before the use of 
telegraph and telephone, of reporters and interviewers, 
and when the corner store was as needful an institution 
as the last edition of the newspaper is to-day. Many a 
good story was told in that store ; many a joke played ; 
but the drugs sold were carefully selected and pure, and 
the prescriptions faithfully put up, for the doctor was a 
thoroughly reliable apothecary as well as one of the good 
fellows. 

In 1857 Doctor Crafts sold out his store to Charles 
N. Chase, and for many years thereafter was engaged 
in the wholesale drug business on Commercial Wharf, in 
Boston. He retired from business some years since. 
He is still a resident of Charlestown, with his children, 
occupying his own house on Albion Place. 

The Boylstons and the Hays were among the early 
settlers in Charlestown, and they were for many years 
large holders of real-estate in the town. The first 
Boylston property was on Wind-Mill Hill (Town Hill) as 



3IO OLD CHARLESTOWN 

early as 1680. Afterwards they held estates near the 
Training Field and on Main Street, Back Lane (Warren 
Street), and High Street, wharf property on Charles 
River, and land on the Mystic side and outside the Neck. 
Members of the old family, bearing the name of Richard 
for three generations, were prominent in the community 
and well up on the list of the largest tax-payers. One 
of them, the youngest, who had left the First Church 
and become a member of the Unitarian Church, pre- 
sented the society with a lot of land on Breed's Hill, the 
proceeds of the sale of which were used in defraying the 
expense of building their chapel, to which the name of 
" Boylston " was given, the same being continued to this 
day. Richard Boylston's residence was on the corner of 
Main and Winthrop streets, the estate running through 
from Main to Warren Street. The same house was 
afterwards for many years the pleasant home of Elias 
Crafts, the father of the apothecary, a most excellent 
man and highly respected citizen, who lived in town for 
a very long period, represented it in the Legislature, 
i836-'38, and died here. One of the daughters of 
Elias Crafts was the wife of the late John C. Robertson ; 
and another was the wife of Mr. Lewis Hall, of Cam- 
bridge. 

The Hay family, as well as the Boylstons, were the 
holders of a good deal of real-estate in the town from an 
early date in its history. John Hay, the destruction of 
whose house on the day of the battle of Bunker Hill 
has been referred to, was a baker by trade, and it was in 
front of his own bake-house that the officer was standing 
who ordered the soldiers to desist when their muskets 
were aimed at his child for pelting them with corn-cobs 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 311 

from the window of his home on the opposite side of 
the street. 

The square wooden building now standing on the upper 
corner of Main and Austin streets was built by John 
Hay, or by his son Richard. The father owned it at 
the time of his death, and left it by will to his grand- 
children, and some of his descendants occupied the 
building, or a part of it, until a comparatively recent 
date. John Hay, one of the grandsons, kept a harness- 
maker's shop there for nearly half a century, and Benja- 
min W. Gage (whose mother was a Hay), after a business 
life of many years in Boston as a crockeryware-dealer, 
returned to Charlestown, lived in the old house, and con- 
tinued the same business in the corner store under his 
residence until his death, Mr. Gage was brought up 
with his uncle, Joseph Hay, long the head of the whole- 
sale crockery-house of Hay & Atkins, in Boston, from 
which he retired in 1850 after a successful business 
career. Joseph Hay lived in a house on Eliot Street, 
in Boston, built for him in 1821, and rounded out there 
a life of over a century. He took pride in calling himself 
a Charlestown schoolboy, and at its meeting, January 15, 
1890, — that day being his birthday, — a message from 
him was received by the Town Hill and Training Field 
School Association stating that he was then celebrating 
his hundredth anniversary. He was blind for many years, 
but retained his mental faculties. He died March 28, 
1890. 

All the land between Main and High streets, from 
Green Street to a line nearly down to Cordis Street, was 
formerly John Hay's pasture. Samuel Dexter purchased 
a part of it in 1794, built the house now the head- 



312 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

quarters of Post Abraham Lincoln, and laid out the fine 
estate which has been described in a former article. 
Elizabeth Stephens, widow of Captain William Stephens, 
a few years later purchased a house that had been built 
on a lot sold to Oliver H olden and conveyed by him to 
Captain Joseph Cordis, and this house remained on the 
lot until the building of the Dexter Row block. The 
Universalist Church lot was also a part of the old 
pasture, and so was the Timothy Thompson estate, sold 
by him to the Five Cent Savings Bank. I shall have 
more to say about Timothy Thompson and his brother. 
Dr. Abraham R. Thompson. 

March 14, 1891. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 313 



L 
Memorial Tribute 

Sarah F. Robertson. 

MRS. SARAH F. ROBERTSON, who died Sat- 
urday, September 1 7, 1 898, at her son's residence, 
29 Mount Vernon Street, Somerville, was born in 
Charlestown, April 23, 18 18, and her whole life was 
passed here with the exception of the few years she 
has resided with her son in Somerville. Her childhood 
and youth were spent in a pleasant home — that of her 
father, the late Mr. Elias Crafts, Sr., referred to in the 
preceding section, and whose long life in Charlestown 
was marked by qualities that make homes precious and 
citizenship honorable. 

As a child and daughter, as a schoolmate and associate, 
as a wife after her marriage with the late John C. Rob- 
ertson, as a mother, as a friend, the life that has just 
ended was a marked one, the memory of which is, and 
will be, fragrant and valuable. 

Mrs. Robertson's experience of life was touched by 
both its light and shadow, but the quality of her mind 
was such as enabled her to meet the one or the other 
with grateful appreciation or patient resignation. During 
the last twelve years her powers of body were weakened 
to such an extent that she was almost helpless ; but she 



314 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

never murmured, and kept up her beauty of spirit to 
encourage her faithful children in the cheerful care 
which, to the last, was extended to her. 

Instances of the influence of a good mother upon an 
equally good daughter, such as we can refer to here, are 
rare indeed. With almost an abandonment of what is 
interesting and attractive to youth, the daughter of Mrs. 
Robertson has watched over her with the greatest tender- 
ness, and together they have made life not only desirable, 
but blessed in its influence upon their friends and the 
community, in its lessons of affection, resignation, and 
courage. 

September 24, 1898. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 315 



LI 

One of the Old Families 

Otis Clapp — Mrs. Richard Williams, and others. 

-Pi 

IN The Chai'lestown Enterprise of September 6, 1890, 
reference was made to the death of a most estimable 

woman who died in Wakefield on the evening of 
September 2, and who was buried from the UniversaHst 
Church in Charlestown, Friday afternoon, September 5. 

A long life of eighty-four years, nearly all of it spent 
in Charlestown, was marked by amiability, cheerfulness, 
unselfish devotion to duty, constant usefulness, and great 
excellence of character. To say this of Mrs. Lucinda C. 
Williams is but the utterance of simple truth. She had 
a large circle of friends who appreciated these qualities 
of mind and heart and the success and value of her life 
in the community of which she was so long a member. 
She was the widow of Richard Williams, whose memory' 
is fragrant with pure life, intelligence, wit, humor, cheer- 
fulness, and service ; a fit companion for her on whose 
grave by the side of his own in Woodlawn Cemetery the 
fresh flowers placed there by loving friends have not yet 
faded. 

Mrs. Williams was a daughter of Otis Clapp, who 
came to Charlestown from Scituate nearly a century ago, 
and who was always a prosperous and prominent citizen 



3i6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of the town. The Clapp residence was on Main Street, i 
fronting on what is now called Dunstable Street. Con- 
nected with the estate was a wharf bearing the owner's 
name. 

Mr. Clapp was one of the original members of the 
First Universalist Society, a leading man of the commit- 
tee having the building of the church in hand, and was 
a constant attendant on the services until his death. i 
His daughter never deserted her religious home, but was 
one of the most active in its services, charities, and 
social gatherings. Among those who have passed on to 
a better life, no one will be missed more or remembered 
with a truer regard and affection than she. 

Mrs. Williams was a sister to Otis Clapp (junior), who 
died here May 26, 1870, and who bequeathed to the 
Old Ladies' Home property valued at over six thousand 
dollars. She herself took deep interest in this institution, 
and was active in its interests ; and for any good Chris- 
tian work in her native place she was always a ready 
helper and friend. 

Another brother of Mrs. Williams married a daughter 
of Colonel Isaac Smith, and she, with Mrs. Williams, 
was widely known for her interest and activity in the 
benevolent movements of their day. 

September 13, 1890. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 317 



LII 
Thompson Square 

Why it was so Named — Members of the Thompson Family. 



THE name given to Thompson Square, as stated in 
Chapter XLIX., was suggested by the fact that 
several of the old family of that name were for a 
long period residents in that vicinity. Timothy, Abraham, 
Joseph, and Benjamin Thompson were the persons re- 
ferred to. The last named was specially noticed in the 
section concerning the former residents of Dexter Row. 
They all were sons of Timothy Thompson (senior), whose 
homestead on the corner of Back Lane (Warren Street) 
and Cordis Street has been described, as well as his 
subsequent dwelling-place on the corner of Main and 
Thompson streets, where the old mansion-house is still 
standing. 

The residence of Timothy Thompson, junior, was on 
Warren Street, opposite the Boylston house on Crafts' 
Corner. He had purchased a part of John Hay's 
pasture, and built a house there, which was his home for 
more than half a century, and where he died, March 31, 
1856. The house was of wood, two stories high, con- 
veniently arranged, and a good-looking building for its 
time. In front of it was a garden running back from 
Warren Street. In it were fruit-trees and vines, shrubs 



3i8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 1 

and flowers, which for many years were cultivated with 
interest and success. Mr. Thompson took great pride 
in his garden, and was somewhat noted as a skillful 
grower of the Isabella grape and giant gooseberry. Mr. 
Wilder, in his article on " Horticulture in Boston and 
Vicinity," in the Memorial History of Boston, refers to 
him as an experienced cultivator of fruits. 

In early life he learned the trade of a blacksmith with 
his uncle, Deacon Amos Tufts, and after his freedom-day 
was passed he started the business on his own account 
in a shop on what is now the comer of Warren Street 
and Church Court. He carried on the business here 
successfully for some time, and in connection with it 
built a stable where he kept horses and carriages to let. 
The stable was afterwards altered into a dwelling-house 
and made a part of the block of houses, two stories 
high, which stood on Church Court until their destruc- 
tion was necessary to make room for the elegant structure 
erected by the Five Cent Savings Bank. That building 
now covers the ground formerly occupied by this block 
and the old mansion-house and garden. When the little 
block of houses referred to was built, the blacksmith- 
shop was removed to the other corner of Church Court, j 
where it stood for some years and then gave way to the ' 
block of two wooden houses now on the site, which were 
put up by Mr. Thompson. The upper part of this lot, 
between the blacksmith-shop and the church-yard, was 
formerly the vegetable-garden. 

After many years of success as a blacksmith and 
stable-keeper, Mr. Thompson opened a store on Main 
Street for the sale of iron and steel. His son Charles 
was connected with him in this business and continued 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 319 

it for many years after his father withdrew to take a 
position in the employ of the Boston Iron Company. In 
a former article I have referred to this son, the Honorable 
Charles Thompson, and to Luther Lapham, afterwards 
his partner, and to the business carried on in this iron- 
store. The store was patronized largely by the ship- 
builders and shipwrights of Charlestown and Medford, 
and by the numerous carriage-builders in the town and 
vicinity, and it had a valuable country trade. 

Timothy Thompson as a blacksmith and iron-dealer 
was brought into contact with William Gray, at the time 
the wharves in Charlestown were made lively by the 
energy and commercial enterprise of that distinguished 
man. This acquaintance and friendship was continued 
after Mr. Gray left Charlestown. The Boston Iron 
Company was a corporation established for the manufact- 
ure of cut nails, iron hoops and rods, and iron shapes of 
all kinds. It belonged largely if not wholly to the Gray 
i family. The factory was on the Mill-dam in Roxbury, 
; and the store for the sale of its products was on India 
Street, Boston. The charge of this store was given to 
Mr. Thompson as selling-agent, and here he continued 
for a long period, almost up to the time of his death. 
I The wholesale iron-dealers and hardware-men of Boston 
all knew him well and were pretty sure of a call from 
him when their stocks needed replenishment. He was 
I straightforward and cheerful, a pleasant man to deal 
j with, and successful in the position he occupied. He 
enjoyed a joke and was apt to enforce good advice in a 
humorous way, as when he suggested to his son, who had 
been elected and was about taking his seat as a member 
of the Governor's Council, that it might be well for him 



320 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

to stop on the way at the cooper-shop of old Mr. Vinton ; 
and have a couple of good walnut hoops set snugly about 
him ; or as when, after attending a revival-meeting and 
listening to the statement of one of his neighbors, a man 
of good standing, that he was the vilest of sinners with 
no good thing about him, he called at the neighbor's 
store the following morning to express sorrow for the 
confession he had heard and which would be so hard for 
his fellow-townsmen to realize who had always heretofore 
looked upon him as a kind-hearted husband and father, 
a good neighbor and honest citizen. 

In early life he was active in the affairs of the town 
and served it as an official many times. He represented 
it in the Legislature in 1819, '20, and '39, and was a 
member of the Constitutional Convention in 1820. He 
was a Democrat in politics. 

Mr. Thompson was a strong man mentally. He was 
a constant reader of the Bible and an independent 
thinker as to its contents. His belief in God was very 
firm, and his faith in the triumph of good as the plan 
and purpose of the Almighty was unwavering. He was 
one of the original members of the First Universalist 
Society and Church, and was a constant attendant at all 
its services. The early ministers of the denomination 
were welcome guests at his house, where discussions on 
the Bible and the rehgious beliefs and movements of 
the time were frequent and interesting. One of his 
daughters was the wife of Rev. Henry Knapp, father of 
Rev. Arthur Knapp, the Unitarian clergyman. Another 
daughter married Thomas Browne, Jr., father of T. 
Quincy Browne, of Concord and Boston ; and another, 
the late Alfred B. Hall. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 321 

Joseph Thompson, after his removal from the Russell 
House in the Square, lived for many years in Union 
Street, where he died in 185 1. He was naturally, 
perhaps, the most enterprising one of the family ; but he 
was too sanguine and riskful as a business man for per- 
manent success. Many important changes and improve- 
ments were planned by him and carried forward with 
energy and ability, and there were times in the history 
of the town when he was prosperous and very prom- 
inent ; but he met with reverses and disappointments 
too great for him to overcome, and in the last years of 
his life was disinclined to mingle much with his fellow- 
citizens and friends. Joseph Thompson's daughters 
were the wives of Henry A. Pierce, G. Washington 
Warren, Henry L. Jaques, and Rev. Charles R. Clark, 
of California. 

May 9, 1 89 1. 



322 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LIII 

Doctor Thompson 

Beloved as a Family Physician, Prominent in Public Affairs, and 
Full of Religious Sentiment. 



D 



R. ABRAHAM R. THOMPSON lived on Main 
Street, opposite the Boylston house on Crafts' 
Corner. His old mansion is still standing. The 



lower part of it is now occupied by M. E. Stark as a 
millinery-store. The block of low wooden buildings 
next to it cover what was formerly the garden, on which 
the house then fronted. The garden extended through 
from Main Street to Seminary Place. Some fine shade- 
trees (horse-chestnuts) and a thrifty Irish ivy which 
covered the whole of the north brick wall of the house 
on the adjoining lot are remembered as among its attrac- 
tions. On a portion of the lot fronting on Seminary 
Place was the stable. 

When Doctor Thompson was born (May 20, 1781), 
his great uncle, Abraham Rand, asked the privilege of J 
giving him a name, and in compliance with this request 
he was christened Abraham Rand. The uncle himself 
was a Charlestown boy, a descendant of Robert Rand 
who settled here as early as 1635. Abraham Rand's 
father, Joseph Rand, was a hatter, having his place of 
business and of residence on Main Street, where the 
Doctor Thompson house now stands. This real-estate 



OLD CHARLESTOWN ^'^^^ 

was inherited by the son, Abraham, who was established 
in business in Salem as a tinplate-worker. When his 
namesake, Abraham Rand Thompson, was ten years old 
he went to Salem to live with his uncle, who fitted him 
for college and sent him to Dartmouth, from which insti- 
tution he received his degree of doctor of medicine in 
1815. The nephew was a lively, cheerful youth, and 
his uncle was very fond of him and when he died gave 
him by will the house and estate on Main Street, in 
Charlestown, which he had inherited from his father. 

Abraham Rand, some years before his death, became 
totally blind, and was in that unfortunate condition of 
dependence upon others which loss of sight necessitates. 
He died in February, 1804. On the afternoon of his 
funeral, in accordance with the custom of the time, his 
will was read to the relatives assembled, and the bequest 
to the nephew became known. It was a surprise, and a 
disappointment to other relatives, but its announcement 
was received in silence and the friends returned to their 
homes. On the evening of that day a brother-in-law 
made his accustomed call on the father of the young 
legatee at his home on the corner of Main and Thompson 
streets in Charlestown. The shadow of dissatisfaction 
was resting upon his countenance, and he was somewhat 
choked in his speech. After alluding to the ceremonies 
at the funeral, and stiffening up his courage by carelessly 
poking the wood-fire with the tongs, he forced out the 
exclamation : 

" That will can never stand. Brother Thompson ! 
Uncle Rand's blindness wore upon him to such an extent 
as to affect his mind, which I am sure you must have 
noticed, as we all have, for a long time." 



324 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

"That is a question for the Probate Court to settle," 
replied Brother Thompson. 

"True," was the response, "but no judge of probate 
can ever allow that will to be set up." 

Nevertheless, the will was set up. The young man 
was given possession of the property, soon moved into 
the house with his bride (Miss Elizabeth Bowers, of 
Billerica), and enjoyed it for the remainder of a long life. 

Doctor Thompson commenced practice as a physician 
in 1802, in which year he received a certificate from the 
censors of the Massachusetts Medical Society that he 
was qualified. He had studied during the three years 
previous with Dr. Josiah Bartlett. He gained a large 
practice in Charlestown, and in the neighboring city and 
towns, which he kept up to the day of his death. He 
was for a long period one of the trustees of the State 
Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, and while holding the 
position of chairman of that board made valuable and 
interesting reports. For a while, after the death of 
Doctor Lee of the McLean Asylum, and previous to the 
appointment of Dr. Luther V. Bell, he had charge of 
that institution. Late in his life he served as president 
of the day at one of the annual festivals of the Massachu- 
setts Medical Society. As a family physician he was 
beloved and confided in. He was attentive and patient ; 
cheerful and encouraging with the suffering ; ever ready 
to relieve parents and children and friends of care and 
responsibility which weighed heavily upon them, by 
taking it upon himself ; and he was full of faith and sym- 
pathy to prepare them for the worst when disease was 
baffling the skill of physicians or when patients had 
passed the point of possible recovery. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 325 

Doctor Thompson was a high-toned, public-spirited 
man, and was actively interested in town affairs all 
through his life. At an early age he was a popular 
officer in the Warren Phalanx. He was a member of 
the school committee for a long period and the printed 
reports of that board from 18 13 to 18 19 were all written 
by him and bear his signature as secretary. His name 
appears on the town records as a member of many impor- 
tant committees. His services were called into use on 
special public occasions up to the very last of his life, 
and his voice was familiar and eloquent whenever an 
expression of the sentiment and feeling of the town was 
desired for patriotic, religious, educational, or benevolent 
purposes. 

He was very often made chairman of public meetings, 
over which he presided with dignity and ease. His 
addresses were effective and sometimes of very marked 
merit and eloquence. When Lafayette visited Bunker 
Hill in 1824 he was welcomed to the sacred ground by 
Doctor Thompson, as chairman of the town committee 
of arrangements, in a speech which has been several 
times reprinted in our local journals and will again be 
interesting. A copy of the reply made by Lafayette, 
in his own handwriting, which was afterwards sent 
through Edward Everett to Doctor Thompson, is now 
in possession of Doctor Lyon, his son-in-law. Lavassuer, 
secretary of the general, who published an account of 
his journey through the country, says of this speech, 
" Lafayette was much moved by it, and his emotion was 
communicated to all the bystanders." 

Doctor Thompson read the Declaration of Independ- 
ence when Edward Everett delivered his oration on the 



326 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

History of Liberty, July 4, 1828, and was the eulogist 
in the Harvard Church at the memorial services on the 
occasion of the death of President William H. Harrison, 
in 1840. On another exciting and interesting time in 
the town's history his voice was heard with emphasis 
and eloquence, as the following paragraph, copied from 
a notice of him written by Richard Frothingham at the 
time of his death, will show : 

He appeared before the public on the occasion of the 
burning of the Ursuline Convent in 1834, of which 
community he had been for more than four years the 
physician. He took part in the great meeting that was 
held in the Town Hall on the morning after the fire, 
when the excitement was terrible, pouring forth his 
indignant feeling at the stain on his native town. He 
subsequently printed an elaborate letter and took part in 
the legal proceedings that followed this outrage. It did 
not matter as to his own course that prejudice bUnded 
the eyes of his neighbors whom he loved ; nor did he 
stop to consider what would be popular ; but, moved by 
a sense of justice, he gave free range to that sentiment 
of civil and religious liberty that was ever an inspiration 
with him, and his record in this sense of deep and wide 
interest, well nigh national, is honorable to him as a 
man, citizen, and Christian. 

He looked upon the settlement and civilization of 
Liberia and the coast of Africa as one of the most 
important movements of the age. He was one of the 
original members of the Charlestown branch of the 
American Colonization Society, which was formed in the 
study of Rev. Dr. Walker in 1838, and was present and 
active in its annual meetings as long as he lived. He 
was a Federalist in politics as long as that organization 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 327 

lasted, and he afterwards acted with the National Repub- 
lican and Whig parties. He was the early friend of 
Edward Everett and had much to do in bringing him 
forward as a candidate when he was first elected to the 
Congress of the United States. In the language of 
another, ** his heart was set on the nomination of Daniel 
Webster for the Presidency," and he was an enthusiastic 
supporter of all the measures taken to accomplish this 
object. In the Whig Convention in 1852, to present 
the claims of Mr. Webster and further his nomination, 
Doctor Thompson was the presiding officer and made an 
eloquent, telHng speech. He was a presidential elector 
in 1844 and a member of the Governor's Council in 
1847 and '48. Edward Everett and Daniel Webster 
were his personal friends. While Mr. Everett resided 
in Charlestown Doctor Thompson was his family 
physician, and the relations between them were intimate 
and confidential. The doctor had a position on the stand 
on the Common the last time Mr. Webster spoke in 
Boston, and as he was going up the steps he was greeted 
heartily by the distinguished statesman as his friend of 
forty years. 

Doctor Thompson was full of religious sentiment and 
feeling. He and his wife were for several years members 
of the First Church, under Doctor Morse, but, having 
changed their views, they were dismissed to become 
members of the Universahst Church. He was prominent 
in this church and society for a long period. Their 
records are full of able and interesting letters, addresses, 
and resolutions, the work of his pen. Later in life, with 
his family, he attended the Unitarian Church ; but he 
was ever strong in his expression of the Universalist 



328 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

faith. In this connection it will be interesting and 
instructive to reprint an extract from the address 
delivered by Dr. George E. Ellis at the time of his 
funeral : 

He will be remembered longest and best among the 
widest circle of his intercourse, on account of his cheer- 
ful and radiant religious faith. He had a characteristic 
religion ; one of his own. Indeed, there have been 
many religious fellowships, not to say sects, in Christen- 
dom, organized around one or more theories or opinions, 
interpretations or solutions of the great mystery of 
being, — God's ways and man's destiny, — which had not 
in them any more of the material for a specific creed 
than he had fashioned for himself. His religion, 
wrought out of his heart and experience, with the help 
of the Holy Book, lived profoundly believed in his breast 
and found fluent expression from his lips. His creed, 
in some of its tenets, and in the strength of conviction 
and the positiveness of statement with which he held and 
avowed it, had about it a personal peculiarity. It had 
grown in him ; it had not been fitted to him. 

He had been trained in the stern doctrine and dis- 
cipline of the ancestral, traditional faith of New England. 
By the process recognized as conversion, he had passed, 
by the narrow door, to full church communion. But, 
growing to need more room and freedom, he went out 
by a wider door, and ever after he was convinced that 
the way by which he went out from an exclusive fellow- 
ship was the right way for entering into a real Christian 
fellowship — a fellowship with the Father, with his Son, 
Jesus Christ, and with all who love him in sincerity. 
He outgrew the limitations and the partialities of a creed 
which trammeled the love and mercy of God. He had 
been an ardent believer of that creed ; as ardently did 
he afterwards repudiate it. Probably he may have lost 
friends and sympathy by his defection. Perhaps in his 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 329 

early zeal of freedom he may have spoken without the 
warrant of knowledge and of charity. Of this I cannot 
speak, as I knew him only in his chastened and mellow 
old age, when his genial and exuberant faith had been 
assimilated into the very fiber and juices of his being 
and was to him full assurance, experience, even sight. 
His great tenet — by which he held and which held 
him — was that of the all-embracing, all-reconciling love 
of God the Father ; there was nothing so hard that it 
would not soften in that crucible ; nothing so worthless 
or unlovely that that potent solvent would not transmute ; 
nothing so unyielding or delaying in its obstinacy that 
that forbearing and pitying patience would not at last 
win. 

As himself, a son and brother, a husband and father, 
his own domestic life had taught him what human 
frailties and trials are, and that kindness, gentleness, and 
submission are the best resources. He knew the smart, 
the burden, the anguish, which come of disappointed 
parental love and blighted hope. Five times have I seen 
him bear the dread shock and bend only to rise firmer 
again for his sorrow and its divine relief. And if an 
earthly father could give what is good and bear what is 
evil among his sons, allowing forgiveness and renewals 
of love, and gentle words, and steadfast hopes to rule his 
own heart, could he think less filially of the Heavenly 
Father ? The consistency between his creed and his 
example has been noted by us all. There was hardly 
any need of a Christian minister in the chambers where 
he was the physician — the faith in which he lived and 
died is dearer to us because he held it with such a serene 
confidence and looked to its revealings with an eye so 
clear because lighted from above. 

It is pleasant to dwell upon the memory of Doctor 
Thompson — to think of him in his home, made sunny 
and charming by his constant generosity and cheerful- 



330 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

ness, and made ready for the shadows and disappoint- 
ments of Hfe by his unwavering religious faith. He was 
conspicuous in the social life of the town, and enter- 
tained friends and many persons of distinction with 
liberality and cordiality. His table was always prepared 
for guests. He was a gifted conversationalist and knew 
how and when to tell a good story. 

A regular service of song, every Sunday evening, with 
his children and grandchildren and friends gathered 
about him, was a most enjoyable and uplifting occasion. 
The doctor entered into it with his whole soul, and 
usually anticipated and made preparations for it by a 
collection of fresh flowers picked from his own garden 
or from those of his friends, who were always glad to 
contribute as he took his early Sunday morning walk. 
Early rising was his life-long habit. 

He delighted in a good horse. The writer remembers 
many of the well-bred, handsome horses, the property of | 
Doctor Thompson in the days of long ago. He was 
perfectly at home in the saddle, and was perhaps the 
best known equestrian in all the neighboring towns, as 
well as in Charlestown. 

We can never forget his gracious smile and graceful 
bow as he jogged along, erect and self-possessed ; or his 
use of the spurs if in haste, and the ease with which he 
adapted himself to the motion of his beast when pushed 
to the fastest necessity. He was not always alone when 
on horseback, for his grandchildren had been taught to 
enjoy the healthful exercise and were provided with 
horses for the purpose ; and often, on a summer morning 
or afternoon, a small cavalcade of happy riders, under the 
doctor's direction, could be seen starting off for or return- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 331 

ing from an excursion of miles through the neighboring 
towns. He kept up this exercise as long as he lived, 
and it was only a few days previous to his death that he 
rode up Main street on a spirited young horse. 

On the 4th day of May, 1 866, early in the morning, he 
was stricken down with paralysis. For a full week he 
lay insensible, as if in sleep, and it seemed at times as if 
he were waking ; but his life was worn out, and on the 
morning of May nth he died as quietly as a child falling 
to sleep in its mother's arms. 

He was bom in Charlestown, May 20, 1781, and died 
May 1 1 , I S66, a few days before he was eighty-five 
years old. 

We have referred in former articles to two of the 
daughters of Doctor Thompson as the wives of Doctor 
Kurd and Doctor Lyon. Another daughter was the 
wife of Admiral James Alden, of the United States Navy. 
His sons were George, of Forster & Thompson ; Thomas, 
a physician in Boston ; Jeremiah Bowers, of Fessenden 
& Thompson ; James L., and Frederic W. 

May 16, 1 89 1. 



2,2,2 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LIV 
'' Coronation " 

Where it Originated and was First Heard — Oliver Holden — 
Thomas Hooper — The Little Puritan Church, 

OPPOSITE the head of Salem Street, where now 
stands the brick apartment-house built by Thomas 
Doane and known as " The Salem," was the former 
site of a wooden church which we have more than once 
referred to. It stood there for more than half a century. 
It was built for the Baptists on a lot of land given to 
them by Oliver Holden. It was dedicated in May, 1801, 
and the music for the anthem sung on the occasion was 
composed by Mr. Holden. 

The Baptists occupied this church for some years, 
until 1 8 10, when they provided themselves with another 
place of worship in Austin Street. Lack of harmony 
in the society and some disagreement as to the ownership 
of the High Street church occasioned this change. 
The church was sold to James Harrison, and by him, in 
181 5, to the Unitarian Society, just then formed, and by 
that society, after the present Harvard Church was 
dedicated, February 10, 18 19, to the Methodists. It 
was the place of worship of the last-named for more 
than a quarter of a century ; then it was owned for a 
while by Josiah Brackett, a leading Methodist, and was 
used for occasional religious services. After a time the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 3:^3 

steeple was weakened by decay and taken down, and 
the church was changed into an armory for the Prescott 
Light Guard, a miHtary organization that flourished in 
Charlestown for some years until the State fixed a limit 
to the dragoon service, which necessitated the disband- 
ment of several companies, the Prescotts being among the 
number. After this the old building was used for several 
seasons as a hall for dancing-parties, the constantly 
deteriorating character of which induced Mr. Doane to 
purchase the property, raze the old church, and erect 
"The Salem." 

The fine old mansion standing above " The Salem," 
on Pearl Street, now the residence of Thomas Doane, 
was formerly the estate and home of Oliver Holden. 
The building has always been attractive in its exterior, 
while its interior is finely planned and arranged for com- 
fort and convenience. The lot of land connected with 
it is still large, and in the garden can yet be found some 
of the shrubs, plants, and fruit-trees which helped to 
ornament and make it useful in Mr. Holden's day. The 
grounds were then extensive, at one time reaching nearly 
to Bunker Hill Street ; and after much of the land on 
that side of the town had been laid out into lots and 
covered largely with buildings, Mr. Holden would often 
refer to his land, not quite ready for the market, as 
"the elegant reserve." 

Oliver Holden came to Charlestown in 1788. His 
ancestors had been residents here a century earlier, but 
had removed to Pepperell, where he was born September 
18, 1765. He remained in Charlestown until his death, 
September 4, 1844, when he was a few days short of 
seventy-nine years old. He was a carpenter and joiner 



334 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

by trade. He was very enterprising, and at once after 
his removal here commenced the purchase of lots of 
land and the erection of buildings. 

His first purchase was a lot on Bow Street, in 1787, 
on which he built a house which he sold to Samuel 
Payson, the schoolmaster, one of the early teachers in 
the Town Hill School. Payson was afterwards, for 
many years, cashier of the Massachusetts Bank, in 
Boston, but resided all the while in Charlestown. Mr. 
Holden was early interested in the schools and was one 
of the committee having in charge the enlargement and 
rebuilding of the Town Hill school-house in 1800. He 
represented the town in the State Legislature in 181 8, 
'25, '26, '28, and '33. His operations in real-estate were 
extensive, and the number of recorded conveyances to 
and from him can hardly be equaled by those of any 
other citizen in the town. 

Mr. Holden was connected with the First Baptist 
Church in its early organization, but afterwards with 
another religious society, known for many years as the 
Puritan Church. He was the head of and the preacher 
for this company of Christian believers all through its 
existence. Their meetings were first held in a little 
wooden building still standing on School Street, just 
below High Street, and afterwards in a one-story wooden 
church erected by Mr. Holden on High Street, opposite 
the head of Wood Street, its front shaded by the wide- 
spreading elm-tree which, in spite of the remonstrance 
of a large number of the residents in its vicinity, was 
cut down by order of the City Council of Boston a few 
years ago. These remonstrants, it will be remembered, 
showed their regret and indignation by causing the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 32s 

church-bells to be tolled when the old tree, shorn of its 
branches and severed from its root, lay on the ground, 
a sad example of the lack of reverence and the ruthless 
spirit of the authorities of a great city in this age of the 
world. 

The services at this little church under the tree were 
interesting, and simple in form like the other Congrega- 
tional churches, except that, for a while at least, the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper was observed every 
Sunday. The society was small, but composed of highly 
respected citizens. They believed in the Bible, wor- 
shiped it, perhaps, and, like the early Puritans, referred 
to it as the test of all that was proper or necessary in 
religious or civil government. No special effort was 
made by these religionists to disseminate their peculiar 
views. Visitors to the little church were received with 
kindness, but the main object of the associates seemed 
to be to worship in a quiet way and profit by a com- 
munion which they had established for this purpose. 
The writer in his boyhood many times witnessed and 
listened to the services in this church, and remembers 
the solemnity and earnestness of the regular attendants. 
He can call to mind, among them, David Fosdick, 
John Murray, Francis Hay, Captain Samuel G. Sargent, 
and his son-in-law, Jehiel Smith, Mrs. Jonathan Locke, 
and Joseph Carter. 

Mr. Holden's Bible is now in possession of Thomas 
Doane, or of some member of his family, to whom it was 
presented by the granddaughter of Mr. Holden. Its 
value is enhanced by notes of his reflections while 
perusing its pages, and by an affectionate tribute to his 
mother, — from whom it was a precious gift, — all in 
his own handwriting. 



236 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Mr. Holden was always greatly interested in music, 
and was widely known as a singer and composer in the 
latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part 
of the nineteenth. His standing with musical people 
and the critics of that period is set forth fully in Moore's 
Encyclopaedia of Music, published in 1854, from which 
we copy the following : 

In 1793 Oliver Holden, a resident of Charlestown, a 
carpenter and joiner by trade, published his first book 
of sacred music, arranged in three and four parts, the 
music being much of it original, entitled ** The American 
Harmony." He commenced teaching music, and opened 
a store for the sale of music-books. Soon after, he pub- 
lished another book, in two volumes, called " Union 
Harmony ; or, a Universal Collection of Sacred Music." 
In 1795 he associated himself with Hans Grau and 
Samuel Holyoke, and they published " The Massachusetts 
Compiler." In 1797 Mr. Holden published *' The 
Worcester Collection of Sacred Harmony," which he 
altered, revised, and corrected, adding an appendix con- 
taining a number of psalm-tunes and some other pieces 
of music. This was the sixth edition of the work and 
consisted of one hundred and fifty-six pages. It was 
printed upon movable types by Isaiah Thomas, of 
Worcester, Massachusetts, who in 1786 procured the 
type in Europe. 

Mr. Holden was a conscientiously religious and amiable 
man, as any one might judge from the style of his com- 
positions. He was the author of many excellent tunes. 
His " Confidence," to the words, " How can my soul in 
God rejoice" ; "Paradise," "Now to the shining realms 
above" ; and his "Coronation," "All hail the power of 
Jesus' name," will live for generations yet to sing and 
admire. Holden was from his youth passionately fond 
of music, and though in the latter years of his life he 
ceased to instruct and compose, he retained his love for 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 337 

the art till his death. Up to the time Mr. Holden ceased 
publishing music there had been no American author 
whose productions had been so well received and so 
generally admired. 

Mr. Holden belonged to the order of Free Masons 
and was admitted to King Solomon's Lodge in June, 
1795, and was made an honorary member after July, 
1808. In the record of a celebration of Washington's 
Birthday by the Lodge in 1787 can be found the follow- 
ing : " Brother Oliver Holden was present on the occa- 
sion and sang several songs. He also presented to the 
Lodge a beautiful ivory mallet, and Brother Benjamin 
Hurd an ancient chair." These gifts to the Lodge have 
been used, I believe, by every Master since that time. 
Musical entertainments at Lodge meetings, conducted 
by Mr. Holden, are mentioned many times in the 
records. 

In this connection I am reminded of another of the 
old worthies of Charlestown, Thomas Hooper, whose 
memory is especially precious to the Masonic Lodge 
referred to. Mr. Hooper was eminent in the Masonic 
order, and through a long life a prominent man in the 
town, holding many important offices under the town 
and city governments. He was born April 16, 1779, 
and died July 23, 1868, living here all his life. He was 
for some time the town treasurer and for many years an 
official in the Massachusetts Bank. Like Mr. Holden 
he began life as a carpenter and joiner, and like him he 
was also very fond of music. In early life they were 
very intimate friends, and Hooper was one of the 
favored few called in to hear Holden's musical composi- 
tions before they were given to the public. In the last 



338 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

days of his life it was exceedingly interesting to listen 
to his account of these visits and of the discussions as 
to the merits of the new tunes and their arrangement. 

Old residents of Charlestown may, I think, feel a 
proper pride in the fact that some of these tunes com- 
posed by a Charlestown man and heard for the first time 
at his fireside have touched the religious sentiment with 
wonderful force and have lost none of their power even 
up to the present time. Who can measure the value of 
the tune of " Coronation " as it is everywhere sung and 
used to wake up religious emotion and interest by every 
denomination of Christians } Go where you will, to any 
gathering of earnest men and women who desire to give 
harmonious expression in song to their religious life and 
Christian faith, and " Coronation " is sure to be selected, 
not only for its familiarity but for its peculiar adaptation, 
and it will be ringing in the ears of those who have taken 
part in its singing, or who listened to it, long after its 
actual sound has ceased. Its heartiness and earnestness 
meet ready acknowledgment and leave no room for 
adverse criticism. The royal diadem seems really to be 
brought forth and the crown put on with unanimity and 
rejoicing. 

The tune is sung everywhere. Not long ago, while 
engaged in looking over a route for a new railroad, Mr. 
Doane attended a religious meeting in an obscure town 
in North Carolina and found " Coronation " the inspiring 
tune there. After its conclusion he took occasion to say 
that his residence in Boston was the old homestead of 
the composer. 

Sunday before last was spent by the writer at the 
Poland Springs House, in Maine, and in the afternoon 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 339 

and evening concerts were given by the fine orchestra of 
the hotel, which orchestra is led by our highly esteemed 
and talented townsman, J. Howard Richardson. The 
large and elegant music-hall was nearly filled with the 
guests. A daintily-printed programme had been pro- 
vided, and it will be needless for me to say that every 
one was delighted with the classical character of the 
music announced, and afterwards with the excellent 
judgment, taste, and skill shown in its performance. 
After the regular concert in the evening was over, Mr. 
Richardson announced that the usual Sunday evening 
service of song would take place, and there were some 
fine voices in the company to join in it. Many tunes, new 
and old, were selected and sung, and the evening seemed 
to be passing away with no call for the old favorite. The 
writer had just made up his mind that it would be for- 
gotten, when one of the leading singers called out : 
" Now let us all stand up and sing old ' Coronation * " ; 
and the whole company did rise, to experience the thrill 
of enjoyment and uplifting which the old tune has never 
yet failed to give to its hearers. 

Not long ago I clipped from a newspaper some verses, 
written by Mrs. E. V. Wilson, entitled " His Mother's 
Song," which pleased me much in the reading, and 
which, it seems to me now, may be reprinted as an 
appropriate appendix to this chapter. 

HIS mother's song. 

Beneath the hot midsummer sun 

The men had marched all day. 
And now beside a rippling stream 

Upon the grass they lay. 



340 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Tiring of games and idle jests. 

As swept the hours along. 
They called to one who mused apart, 

*« Come, give us, friend, a song." 

He answered, ''Nay, I cannot please ; 

The only songs I know 
Are those my mother used to sing 

At home, long years ago." 

*' Sing one of those," a rough voice cried ; 
** We all are true men here. 
And to each mother's son of us 
A mother's songs are dear." 

Then sweetly sang the strong, clear voice. 
Amid unwonted calm : 
*' Am I a soldier of the Cross, 
A follower of the Lamb ? " 

The trees hushed all their whispering leaves. 
The very stream was stilled. 

And hearts that never throbbed with fear 
With tender memories thrilled. 

Ended the song, the singer said. 
As to his feet he rose, 
** Thanks to you all ! good night, my friends, 
God grant you sweet repose." 

Out spoke the captain : " Sing one more." 

The soldier bent his head. 
Then, smiling as he glanced around, 

** You'll join with me," he said, 

** In singing this familiar air. 
Sweet as a bugle-call, — 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 341 

* All hail the power of Jesus' name. 
Let angels prostrate fall.' " 

Wondrous the spell the old tune wrought ! 

As on and on he sang, 
Man after man fell into line. 

And loud their voices rang. 

The night winds bore the grand refrain 

Above the tree-tops tall ; 
The ** everlasting hills" called back 

In answer, **Lord of all." 

The songs are done, the camp is still. 
Naught but the stream is heard ; 

But, ah ! the depths of every soul 
By those old hymns were stirred. 

And up from many a bearded lip 

Rises in murmurs low 
The prayer the mother taught her boy 

At home, long years ago. 

September 26, 1891. 

Shortly after the above chapter was first printed, I re- 
ceived a note from a granddaughter of Oliver H olden, 
thanking me for the notice given of her grandfather and 
of his life-work. The letter contains an account of the 
death of Mr. Holden which I think will be very interest- 
ing to the reader. It is as follows : 

With my mother I watched by his bedside the last 
night of his life. In the early morning hours he tried 
to speak, and very intently my mother listened, but she 



342 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

could not understand. Then I bade him tell me what 
he would say, and very slowly he spoke : " I have some 
beautiful airs running in my head. If I only had strength 
to note them down ! " These were his last words. Six 
hours later, as the old clock on the stairs was striking 
nine, he went home, and the dear old house was never 
the same afterwards. 

By the note I am also informed that the Bible given 
to the oldest daughter of Mr. Doane on her wedding-day 
was the one used by Mr. Holden in the little chapel. 
The family Bible, as well as the organ, secretary, and 
clock, with many other precious mementoes, are still in 
the posession of the writer of the note, who sent me also, 
inclosed, the following extract from the journal of a 
private soldier in the 44th Regiment, Massachusetts 
Volunteer Militia : 

Sunday, November 2, 1862. 
I was ordered off guard at 4.30 a.m., and fell into 
the ranks without my mug of coffee or breakfast. The 
brigades marched out of the town (Little Washington, 
North Carolina) northward, upon sandy roads, and en- 
tered the woodland. Weary from a night's watching, with 
the prospect of a fatiguing march through a monotonous, 
desolated country, I could not forget the peaceful Sab- 
bath of my dear New England home. Silently praying 
for strength, my ear caught the first notes of " Corona- 
tion " from voices in the advance. In quick response, 
the whole line, catching up the strain, made the forest 
ring with ''All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," and 
forgetting myself in this grand adoration of the Master 
I felt that God had answered my prayer. 

In the note referred to above, allusion is made to an 
article published in The Boston Evening Transcript in 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 343 

1876, entitled " Centennial Peonies," and signed " S.," 
and I was asked if it was written by me.* I had never 
seen or heard of it, but expressed a desire for a copy, 
which I have since received. In connection with what 
we have printed concerning Mr. H olden it is a very 
interesting paper, and to reprint it will, it seems to me, 
be proper and pleasing. 

To the Editor of The Transcript — With this note I 
send you a bunch of peonies, the roots of which have 
been in my garden many years. They are like other 
peonies of the kind, but there is a little history connected 
with these which makes them of interest in these days 
of centennial remembrance, for I can trace back their 
ancestry to the 17th of June, 1775, when the British 
burnt the town of Charlestown. 

At that time there were two estates on Bow Street, 
adjoining each other ; one occupied by Nathaniel Rand, 
and the other by Mr. Russell. Their houses were 
destroyed, and the families fled to the neighboring towns 
for safety. It was in March, 1776, when the British 
evacuated Charlestown, that the former inhabitants 
returned to rebuild their houses. As there had been no 
fences between the estates it was difficult to mark out 
the boundary-lines. Mr. Russell thought he knew the 
line and began to stake it off. Mr. Rand believed he 
was encroaching on his premises, and said to Mr. 
Russell, " Wait until my peonies come up, as they were 
on the boundary, and they will tell the story." When 
the peonies appeared the line was fixed. 

Mr. Rand had had three wives and fifteen children, 
and had he lived in our day he would be considered a 
premium father. His thirteenth child, Nancy, born 23d 



*"S." was the signature used at the end of each of this series of 
articles in their original newspaper form. 



344 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of December, 1765, was mamed on the 12th of May, 
1 79 1, to the late Oliver Holden, a well-known and highly 
respected citizen of Charlestown. Mr. Holden settled 
in Pearl Street, on the back part of Bunker Hill, and the 
old peony-roots were transferred to his garden. More 
than half a century ago the writer learned this little 
history, saw the flowers, and subsequently obtained some 
roots from which the flowers now sent you are the 
products 

Mr. Holden composed the good old tune of '* Corona- 
tion," which has been oftener sung by our church choirs 
than any other (with the exception, perhaps, of " Old 
Hundred"), and one which, from its enlivening and 
cheering melody, will continue to be a favorite long after 
many of the more modern and fashionable tunes of the 
present day are forgotten. S. 

This story of delay in fixing the boundary-line 
between the two estates in Bow Street has been known 
to Mr. Doane, who says that the bulbs transplanted into 
Mr. Holden's garden are still there, and that they pro- 
duced fine flowers during the very last spring. When 
the season comes round again I hope we may have the 
pleasure of seeing this bunch of old-fashioned red peonies 
in full bloom. Meanwhile I shall be curious to know 
about the other "S.," whose signature I have unwit- 
tingly adopted. 

October 17, 1891. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 345 



LV 

Rev. Thomas F. King 

Father of Starr King and Pastor of the Universalist Church — 
His Death and Funeral — The First Sermon of Doctor 
Chapin in Massachusetts. 



IN October, 1835, an invitation was extended by the 
First Universalist Society in Charlestown to Rev. 
Thomas Farrington King, of Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, to become its pastor, the situation having 
been made vacant by the resignation of Rev. Linus S. 
Everett in December, 1 834. The invitation was accepted, 
and the installation services took place January 10, 1836. 
Those of us who were privileged to know Mr. King can 
never forget the faithful, warm-hearted Christian min- 
ister, the father of Thomas Starr King. It has been 
well said of him that "he was a friend of truth and 
humanity," and certainly his generous nature claimed 
acknowledgement from all who came in contact with 
him. After his acceptance of this call he removed from 
Portsmouth to Charlestown at once, with his wife and 
family of young children, among them his eldest son, 
Thomas Starr, then ten years of age. 

The ministry of Thomas F. King was successful. 
His character was marked by openness and honesty. 
In his intercourse with his fellow-men he was confiding 
and agreeable. The grasp of his hand was so warm and 



346 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

his greeting so cordial that he easily gained the confidence 
and esteem of the whole community. He was broad in 
his views and open to the influence of light as it should 
be thrown upon the world for its instruction and growth ; 
a good speaker and a fine reader of hymns, always in 
earnest with his work, — as some of us, who were inter- 
ested parties in the marriage-ceremony as conducted by 
him, well remember. Yet he was full of humor, and 
remarkable for his imitative powers, which he was ever 
ready to put into exercise and make interesting when the 
proper time for mirthfulness came round. In a word, 
he was an able, cheerful, good man. 

But his health failed, and after great suffering from a 
deep-seated disease he died in September, 1839, ^.t the 
age of forty-two years, at his home on Main Street, in 
the wooden building which now makes the corner of 
Main and Dunstable streets. His funeral, which took 
place from the church in September, was very largely 
attended ; all the business places in the town were closed j 
in testimony of the respect and regard felt for him in 
the community, and a long procession followed his 
remains to his grave in the old burial-ground. 

The death of Mr. King took place at a time whei 
there was an unusual gathering of Universalist clergy- 
men in Boston, who were on their way to a general con- 
vention of the denomination at Portland, Maine. Man] 
of them attended the funeral and were present in the' 
church, which was opened for rehgious services in the 
evening of that day. Among these clergymen was a 
young man who, two years before, had been ordained 
and settled over the Independent Christian Society in 
Richmond, Virginia. He had been invited by the church 
committee, at the suggestion of Rev. A. B. Grosh, of 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 347 

Utica, New York, with whom he had been a student, to 
preach the sermon. The congregation was large, and 
they listened with constantly increasing attention to the 
preacher as he discoursed on faith, *' the substance of 
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 

The preacher was Rev. Edwin H. Chapin, and this 
was his first introduction to a Charlestown audience, his 
first sermon in New England. The rapt attention of all 
who were present was easily held by him, as in eloquent 
tones he delivered a sermon which was at once a source 
of consolation to the recently bereaved, of profit and 
enjoyment to his hearers, and the promise of future 
eminence for himself. To hear more from this stranger, 
to listen again to the rich tone of his voice, to be stirred 
and charmed by his earnest, vigorous thought and unmis- 
takable sincerity, was the general desire, and, by a 
unanimous vote at a meeting of the society soon after, 
its committee was instructed to extend an invitation to 
him to occupy the pulpit again as a candidate for the 
vacant pastorship. The correspondence resulted in his 
promise to preach three Sundays in the February follow- 
ing. His return was looked forward to with almost 
impatient interest, and when it was announced February 
I, 1840, that he had arrived and would occupy the 
pulpit on the following Sunday the expression of gratifi- 
cation and pleasant expectancy was intense. A single 
sermon by a young stranger, unknown to fame, had 
produced this state of feeling. But his soul had been 
stirred to its depths with his own thought, and there was 
magnetism enough about him to attract and hold the 
attention and interest of every listener. 

The church was thronged when Sunday came, and as 
the young divine passed through the aisle to the pulpit, 



348 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

everything but the outward expression of applause was 
manifest in the congregation. But what was to be the 
outcome of all this ? To meet this expectation was a 
large demand upon a young man who had just entered 
the ministry. Would he be equal to it ? There was no 
disappointment. The services were successful from the 
first to the last. The scripture-lesson, the reading of 
the hymns, the prayer, each touched the head, the heart, 
the soul ; and the sermon was full of the earnestness 
and irresistible eloquence which always afterwards char- 
acterized the preaching of Doctor Chapin. 

It had been arranged with Mr. Chapin that there 
should be a morning and an afternoon service on each of 
the three Sundays. When he left Richmond he had just 
delivered a course of six lectures to young men. They 
had given great satisfaction and called out much favor- 
able newspaper criticism. A desire was expressed by 
some of the Boston Universalists, especially Abel 
Tompkins, whose book-store in Cornhill was at that 
time the headquarters of the Universalist ministers, 
that he should repeat these lectures while here and allow 
them to be published in book-form. The society hesitated 
before meeting this desire, on the ground that it would 
be asking too much, imposing too great a burden upon 
the young man. But the request was made, and the 
lectures given Sunday and Thursday evenings of his 
stay. Twelve sermons in three weeks, and to hear each 
one of them a church filled to its utmost capacity with 
delighted listeners — listeners to a man of unmistakable 
genius, to the earnest expression of a noble soul, whose 
influence was as natural and cheering as the sunlight, as j 
potent and refreshing as the rain. 

On Sunday, February 23, after the service in the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 349 

afternoon, a general meeting of the society was held, 
and this resolution was passed : " We hereby extend to 
Rev. Edwin H. Chapin a frank, cordial, and unanimous 
invitation to assume the pastoral charge of this society." 
This resolution was presented to him by the committee 
at the residence of one of its members on the evening 
of the same day, and it was confirmed at a legal meeting 
which had been notified previously but could not be held 
until the 8th of March. 

A long time elapsed before a full acceptance of the 
call was given, but during this time an interesting 
correspondence was kept up between Richard Frothing- 
ham, Jr., chairman of the standing committee, and Rev. 
Mr. Chapin, which from time to time was communicated 
to the society. To fulfill faithfully his obligations to the 
society in Richmond had first to be considered and com- 
pleted by Mr. Chapin. Then he must be sure that the 
Charlestown society understood fully his position as a 
minister of the gospel, a seeker after truth. His views 
of Universalism were not in full accord with some of its 
teachers, but his *' reason and hope, bound together with 
golden cords of scripture teaching, held to the sublime 
and beautiful doctrine of universal salvation." He looked 
upon the society as an independent one and he would be 
an independent preacher. With the full understanding 
of his views and feelings he would gratefully accept the 
call. Mr. Frothingham's reply in behalf of the society 
was as follows : 

We would have our minister an Independent Preacher ; 
one who would not be bounded by creed or sect ; one 
who would yield to no dictation but that of his own 
conscience ; one who would make duty his principle 
of action, and truth his guiding star; one who would 



350 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

stand ready to reflect whatever of new light he may 
receive upon the people of his charge. Robinson, 
two centuries ago, charged his people never to be afraid 
to receive new truth from God's Word. Shall we refuse 
to accept a liberty that is two centuries old ? J 

In this spirit the relation of pastor and people was 
formed between Edwin H, Chapin and the First Univer- ^ 
salist Society in Charlestown. On the first Sunday in 
December, 1840, he greeted his people from his own 
pulpit, as pastor and preacher, and on the 23d of the 
same month his installation took place in the presence 
of a large and happy congregation. 

At this time all the religious societies in the town 
were in a state of prosperity, and their standing with 
their respective denominations was such as to make them 
worthy of the attention of the most prominent young 
clergymen looking for places of settlement. Doctor 
Walker had just given up the pastorate of the Harvard 
Unitarian Society to take a professorship in Harvard 
College, and a call had been accepted by Rev. George 
E. Ellis, August 8, 1840, to fill his place. The First 
Church was without a pastor, and Rev. William Ives 
Buddington had been called there; and Rev. E. H. 
Chapin, as we have said, had become the pastor of the 
Universalist Society. These three young men, each 
then only twenty-five years old, and all born within six 
months of each other, were to commence their career of 
usefulness and eminence in Charlestown. Fortunate 
Charlestown ! But more of this, with further notice of 
Doctor Chapin's life here, in a future article. 

June 4, 1892. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 351 



A 



LVI 

Rev. Edwin H. Chapin 

His Ministry and Life in Charlestown. 

S we left the subject in the previous chapter, Mr. 
Chapin was the recently settled minister of the 
Universalist Church. By the eloquent expression 
of his advanced thought he had at once made a strong 
impression upon his own people and the community, and 
was attracting crowds of eager listeners to his sermons 
and services. He was entering upon a busy period in 
his life. 

Fortunately he was rugged and strong in health, for 
the public is very severe in its demands upon favorite 
speakers and blind to the possibility of overworking 
them. The service required of him by the society over 
which he had just been settled was the delivery of two 
sermons each Sunday, with an additional lecture on the 
evening of the second Sunday in each month, and a 
preparatory lecture on Thursday evening before Com- 
munion Sunday. Then the regular work of a large 
parish must be attended to, and he must be ready to 
answer the calls made upon him, as upon every settled 
minister in the town, by those who render no aid in the 
support of religious institutions, although they need and 
claim their ministrations when sickness and death over- 
take them. Moreover, as the eloquent young preacher 



2S2 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

had made an impression upon the community as well as 
upon the society over which he had been settled, a 
lecture before the town lyceum was very early asked of 
him. As it proved to be an interesting and able one, 
all the lyceums in the neighboring towns must have it, 
and all the temperance and other reform associations 
must hear him, as he was known to be in sympathy with 
them ; while the growing order of Odd Fellows, of which 
he was one of the earliest members, claimed his influ- 
ence and assistance in its behalf. 

At this time, too, Charlestown was influential in the 
councils of the State. It was represented in the Legis- 
lature by William Sawyer, Seth J. Thomas, and Richard 
Frothingham. Frederic Robinson was president of the 
Senate and Charles Thompson a member of the Gov- 
ernor's Council. The friendship of all these prominent 
men of the time had been gained by the charming per- 
sonal qualities of Mr. Chapin, and they were proud of his 
growing fame as a public speaker. The suggestion that 
he might be elected chaplain of the Legislature was 
pushed by them to a successful vote, and the duties of 
that office were added to the almost innumerable calls 
upon his time and strength. But he bore up under his 
burden with great courage and judgment, and did his 
work well — so well that louder calls were made upon 
him. He was chosen to preach the election sermon 
before the Governor and Council, was made a member 
of the State Board of Education and invited to deliver 
addresses at the commencement exercises of some of 
the colleges. All these things were piled upon him as 
testimonies to his genius and ability. 

It would seem that with all this on his hands his work 
in his society must be neglected, but his pulpit labor 



OLD CHARLESTOWN ^53 

continued to be successful and each Sunday found him 
prepared with fresh sermons to which crowded congre- 
gations were delighted to listen. If his brain was busy 
during the week it found no rest on Saturday night, and 
the early Sunday morning hours were often needful for 
the finishing touches of sermons to be delivered later in 
the day. But his whole soul was in his work, the strain 
and fatigue of which were disguised by his enthusiasm 
and eloquence. Nevertheless he was overworking, and 
the evidence of this fact must sooner or later appear. 

When he arrived in Charlestown to commence the 
work of his ministry he brought with him his wife and 
an infant son, who then comprised his family. He was 
a devoted husband and fond father. His arduous labors, 
which we have tried to describe, took up the greater part 
of his time, but his heart was all the while in his home. 
Little Edwin Channing, for he had given his boy, for a 
middle name, that of the distinguished divine whose life 
and writings had deeply impressed his mind and heart, 
was a bright, promising child, and both his mother and 
father looked upon and cherished him with the intensest 
parental affection. He was a healthy child, too, and the 
influence of this young life upon his parents, who were 
free from great anxiety on his account, was joyous, 
encouraging, and healthful. But, alas ! this was of short 
duration, for the bloom of health suddenly passed away 
and the dear boy sickened and died. 

Up to this time the enthusiasm of the crowds who 
had listened to him, the consciousness of successful labor, 
the excitement of his busy life, had stimulated and 
cheered him on and kept him unconscious of the wear 
upon his nervous system and of its demand for rest. 
But now, filled with grief and disappointment, weariness 



354 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of mind and body became apparent ; his heart almost 
failed, and despondency laid its hand heavily upon him. 
This was a time when the influence of a devoted, true- 
hearted, and courageous wife was needed to check the 
despairing tendency, to lead him to accept the lesson of 
sorrow and disappointment as a test of faith in the 
eternal goodness, and to lift him up out of the present 
shadow into the light of future usefulness and duty ; and 
here perhaps was first made apparent the energy and 
nobleness of the character of Mrs. Chapin, which after- 
wards, through all his eminent career, was so helpful 
and important in the successful life of her husband. 

The time had now surely come for rest, the absolute 
necessity for which was urged upon him, and a period of 
relief from his ministerial duties was voted by the society, 
while the denominational newspaper gave notice that for 
a while it would be impossible for him to accept invita- 
tions to address public meetings. Before starting on his 
vacation he had preached a sermon on the mission of 
little children, the subject that had occupied his mind, 
and his vacation days must have been occupied in reflec- 
tion upon such subjects, for he soon prepared for the 
press that little volume, entitled ** The Crown of Thorns," 
which has been a source of consolation and comfort to 
many wounded hearts ever since. 

During his settlement in Charlestown he received 
many calls from other societies, with offers of increased 
salary as an inducement for their acceptance. One of 
these, from the leading Universalist Society in New 
York, he had under consideration for some time, but it 
was declined at last. He was in actual need of increased 
compensation for his services, and after the effect of his 
required rest began to be felt by him he was met by a 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 355 

proposition from the Second Universalist Society in 
Boston to become the colleague of the venerable Hosea 
Ballou, with a salary sufificient to relieve him from the 
necessity of much of his other labor. This he accepted, 
after advice with his friends. He left Charlestown in 
the spirit shown in the following letter to his society : 

Charlestown, November i, 1845. 

Brethren — After, I trust, due deliberation, I have 
concluded to ask of you a dissolution of our present 
connection, in order that I may be at liberty to accept 
a call which I have received from the Second Universal- 
ist Society in Boston. I therefore now respectfully 
tender to you my resignation of my office as pastor of 
your society, the connection to close at such time as you 
may indicate. 

Thus much formally. But, brethren, a connection of 
almost five years cannot be coldly broken. The con- 
clusion at which I have now arrived fills me with emotion, 
and I should do injustice to myself and to you did I not 
say so. These five years exist, with all their vicissitudes 
and their results, and they can never be obliterated from 
my memory. The kindness and indulgence which I 
have experienced at your hands, the acquaintances I 
have formed, the seasons of communion we have had 
together, the words which I have spoken and you have 
heard, and all the facts and opportunities of my ministry 
among you, have established a relationship between us 
which cannot be broken by any changes. The connec- 
tion between pastor and people is only excelled in near- 
ness by that of the family ; and I now pen the words 
which, on my part, dissolve that connection with sad and 
prayerful emotion. But though I shall soon cease to 
break unto you the bread of life as your settled pastor, 
as the preacher and the friend I shall always enter your 
pulpit and your houses as coming home, and shall 
always feel that you are still my people. 

I trust, brethren, that in forming my decision I have 



;^S6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

not acted with an eye merely to my own interests. I 
have not been, nay, I am not now, without some fears 
that my leaving you may be injurious to the interests of 
your society ; but I have reason on the whole to believe 
it will not prove a permanent injury. I trust you will 
soon find a pastor upon whom you will unite, and who 
will advance your temporal and spiritual interests. For 
your welfare in these respects I do now and shall ever 
earnestly pray. Commending you to God for guidance, 
blessing, and all needed good, I subscribe myself, yours 
fraternally, E. H. Chapin. 

To this letter the society replied that after a connec- 
tion of five years they could not contemplate the separa- 
tion without painful emotion. They had been years of 
harmony and prosperity, and of uninterrupted friendship, 
in which he had been near to them in their joys and 
sorrows and had touched their hearts by powerful 
Christian appeals. The past would linger in their 
memories ; change could not alter nor time obliterate it, 
and in the pulpit or in their homes he would be always 
welcomed as one of them. There was consolation in the 
thought that he would be engaged in a more extended 
field, and that he would still be in the neighborhood 
where friendly intercourse could continue although the 
pastoral relation would be changed. 

The feeling shown in the letter of resignation was real 
and heartfelt, and up to the time of his death, December 
26, 1879, ^o closer relation outside of the nearest kin- 
ship could possibly be held than that between Doctor 
Chapin and his Charlestown friends. 

August 4, 1894. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 357 



LVII 

Thomas Starr King 

His Boyhood and Youth — Succeeds Doctor Chapin in His 
Father's Pulpit. 

WHEN it was determined that Mr. Chapin would 
accept the call of the society in Boston, the 
question of a successor in Charlestown was very 
soon under discussion. Six years had elapsed since the 
death of Rev. Thomas F. King. His eldest son, Thomas 
Starr, was now twenty years old. He was a young man 
of great mental ability and was preparing to enter 
the ministry. He was at this time supplying temporarily 
the pulpit of a new and small society in Chardon Street 
Chapel, Boston, and he had made a very marked impres- 
sion upon all who had listened to him. His character, 
his genius, and his promise were fully known and appre- 
ciated by Mr. Chapin and his society. Here in Charles- 
town his boyhood had been spent, and here was his 
religious home, but he was still so young that the 
expediency of at once calling him to the pastorate of the 
society was a debated question. 

Will it be well to put him in the place of his father's 
successor, who has so acceptably carried on the work of 
the parish and raised its standard so high } *' Yes," said 
Mr. Chapin, and yes was the decision of those most 
interested in the welfare of the society. The writer 



358 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

remembers well the readiness with which a paper to that 
effect was signed when, as a member of a committee, he 
was charged with the duty of presenting it to the pew- 
holders in anticipation of the meeting to determine the 
question of a call. A few only, among the oldest of 
them, shook their heads and refused to join in the settle- 
ment of a boy, as they looked upon him, but the assent 
was so general that the action of the legal meeting could 
be easily determined beforehand. Even among the 
older members a majority favored the call. 

It required but little effort to secure a vote of the 
society inviting Mr. King to the pulpit, but it was not 
so easy to convince him that it would be well for him to 
accept the invitation. He was full of doubt as to the 
wisdom of such a step. He was pleased with the good 
opinion of his friends and at the confidence shown in 
him, but felt that he needed experience and preparation ; 
that it would be presumptuous on his part to undertake 
the charge of an old and large society. " Let me com- 
mence the work of the Christian ministry in some quiet 
place where, perhaps, I may grow up to the needs of 
the larger parishes," was his earnest request and wish. 
" No, no," he added ; " it will not do. We [for he con- 
sidered himself an interested member of the society] 
must look for some older, abler man to follow out the 
work of Mr. Chapin." This was the state of mind in 
which Mr. King met his friends who were desirous of 
his acceptance, but he did at last yield to their judgment 
and accept a call. 

And so Thomas Starr King was ordained as a Chris- 
tian minister and settled over the society of which his 
father was pastor at the time of his death, and which for 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



359 



five years thereafter had prospered under the successful 
and extraordinary ministry of Rev. Edwin H. Chapin. 
It required a man of more than ordinary abiUty to carry 
on the work of the society and keep the teaching from 
its pulpit up to the standard that had been set for it ; 
and the society found this man in its newly settled 
pastor. The sermons of Mr. King were full of thought, 
and the advanced ideas of the time were presented by 
him with great clearness, prudence, and judgment. His 
hearers were never left without food for reflection, nor 
could they fail to be impressed with the duty of growth 
in grace, of their personal obligation to lead honest 
lives and to make real their faith in the fatherhood of 
God, the brotherhood of man, and the everlasting power 
of love. 

The marked ability of Mr. King attracted the atten- 
tion of men of eminence outside the denomination to 
which he belonged, and he easily gained the warm friend- 
ship of some of the most distinguished clergymen, with 
some of whom he exchanged pulpits. Rev. William H. 
Channing, Rev. William R. Alger, and Dr. Cyrus A. 
Bartol are remembered by the writer as among those 
who occupied the pulpit. Rev. A. D. Mayo, who was 
then studying for the ministry, was often heard in the 
church. He had married Miss Sarah C. Edgerton, of 
literary fame, who, with her brother John, were among 
Mr. King's dearest friends. The early death of the 
brother was one of his great griefs. The death of the 
sister, not a great while after, filled him with the keenest 
sorrow. 

Mr. King remained with the society only two years. 
He was interested in his work, but his mind could hardly 



36o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

be at ease, for his fame had gone abroad, and unexpected 
and extraordinary invitations were extended to him to 
take charge of some of the most prominent pulpits in 
the land, — among them that of the Rev. Dr. Dewey, 
of New York City. The Hollis Street Society, of 
Boston, who were anxious to recover the ground they 
had lost in the controversy with their former minister, 
the distinguished John Pierpont, had set their minds 
upon Mr. King with a persistence that could not be 
resisted, and when he needed rest and had accepted an 
invitation to make a sea voyage and a visit to Fayal they 
exacted almost a promise that on his return he would 
look with a favorable eye upon this field of labor and 
see in it his place of greatest influence and usefulness. 
His letter to the society was the sequel and is a key to 
his feelings at the time he left Charlestown. 

To THE Committee of the Universalist Society : 

Brethren — It is my duty to announce to you that I 
have this week accepted an invitation to settle with the 
Hollis Street Society in Boston ; and, therefore, that at 
the expiration of three months, or at an earher date if it 
be thought mutually desirable, my pastoral connection 
with the Universalist Society in this city will cease. 

The reasons which have induced me to take this step 
are of such a nature, growing out of peculiar necessities 
and private feelings which cannot be controlled, that they 
cannot properly be stated at length, and could not, I 
fear, be appreciated by any who do not fully know my 
circumstances and the inward obstacles with which, since 
my settlement, I have been obliged to contend. Although 
the conflict of feeling in arriving at this decision has been 
severe, I feel certain that the course which I have taken 
is justified by motives, the force of which my conscience 
could not evade, and to which I was compelled to yield. 
It is but just to say, what indeed is sufficiently obvious, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 361 

that no cause of dissatisfaction has been furnished by the 
society, neither has any arisen out of its circumstances 
and condition. Its prosperity is evident ; and I have 
ever been treated by its members with uniform kindness 
and forbearance. They have been more faithful to their 
duties than I to mine ; and I cannot forget that to a 
large number of them I owe, in behalf of our family, a 
debt of gratitude for generosity of earlier date than that 
which has been extended directly to myself. I trust, 
therefore, brethren, you will feel assured that, in spite of 
my conviction that the labors of some other pastor would 
be better adapted to and appreciated by a majority of the 
society, it is a most painful and trying thing for me to 
sever the tie which has bound me to such faithful and 
cherished friends. 

Excuse me, also, if I state that this step has not been 
suggested, even in part, by any change of religious views. 
If my feelings and tendencies of thought have unfitted 
me for strong sectarian sympathies, yet my confidence 
in the cardinal principles of Universalism, and in the 
cheering prospect of the ultimate triumph of good, 
remains unshaken ; and I trust it will be evident that 
my change of position will not weaken my attachment to 
the Universalist denomination, nor remove me beyond 
the cordial and most pleasant fellowship of my present 
associates in the ministry. 

Private considerations almost exclusively have urged 
and compelled me to dissolve my present ties and seek 
another field of labor. The course may be misinterpreted 
by many, but I feel confident that the motives by which 
it has been dictated are such as God approves. 

I pray you, brethren, in communicating to the society 
this letter, which it has cost me so much pain to write, 
to assure them that my most hearty prayer is for their 
spiritual welfare ; and to accept, on your own behalf, my 
gratitude for your friendship and counsel and my warm- 
est wishes for your personal prosperity and happiness. 
Most truly your friend and brother, 

Charlestown, October 7, 1848. T. S. King. 



362 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Starr King in Charlestown is a pleasant chapter in its 
history, notwithstanding the disappointment that his 
resignation at the time occasioned. He came here a 
bright and attractive boy, was educated in our schools, 
and at once gave promise of the wonderful ability devel- 
oped in his manhood. Joshua Bates, his teacher in the 
grammar school, was accustomed to speak of Starr King 
and Samuel C. Moulton as prodigies of thought and 
character, and to predict eminence in their future. An 
early and greatly lamented death closed the earthly 
career of Moulton, who died April 15, 1845, ^^ the age 
of sixteen years, but King lived to fulfill all expectations 
of honor and usefulness and had reached a point of 
eminence at the time of his death higher, surely, than 
could possibly have been seen in the mind's eye of his 
old teacher. 

Samuel C. Moulton was the brother of Mrs. John 
Stowell and of the Misses Moulton, who were so success- 
ful for many years as teachers in the public schools. At 
the time of his death he was attending a preparatory 
school and would have entered Harvard College in the 
following September. 

The experiences of Starr King as a youth are of 
interest. After leaving school to aid in the support 
of his mother and her family, — for his father left 
but small estate, — he was for a while employed in the 
dry-goods store of W. H. & T. B. Preston ; but he soon 
received an appointment as assistant in the Bunker Hill 
Grammar School, of which Benjamin F. Tweed was the 
principal teacher. Here he was happy, for between Mr. 
Tweed and himself there was a mutual feeling of attach- 
ment and sympathy, both of them being full of interest 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 2^2 

in education, while believing in growth and development 
in everything intended to promote the welfare of mankind. 
How much they helped each other in their reflection and 
study cannot be told, but it is certain that the friendship 
between them was very close and never lessened, and it 
is equally sure that the mention of the name of Starr 
King to Professor Tweed, who is still living, would light 
up his eyes and bring his heart to his mouth in an 
expression of unmistakable admiration and enthusiasm. 

Young Mr. King left Charlestown to take a higher 
position in a grammar school in Medford, but he soon 
returned to accept an invitation from his friend. Colonel 
Seth J. Thomas, to become his confidential clerk in the 
naval store at the Charlestown Navy Yard. The desire 
of his heart in his aim for education had been for a 
college training, but this was denied him, and to educate 
himself was the only alternative. To this work, with 
enthusiasm and courage and faith, the most of his time 
was devoted, and he accepted this clerkship as it would 
interfere less v/ith his labors in preparing himself for the 
professional life he had determined upon. From his 
childhood the vision of clerical life had been before him, 
and his only proper place seemed to be that of a Chris- 
tian minister ; and now the vision had become reality. 
His first sermon had been preached a year or so before 
this, and, as we have said, he was temporarily supplying 
the pulpit of the small society in Chardon Street, 
Boston. His time in the naval store was passed pleas- 
antly, for no effort was spared to make his duties agree- 
able, and Colonel Thomas was fully appreciative of his 
talents and character and treated him with a deference 
and respect which they naturally called forth. Very 



364 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

soon he was called upon to succeed Rev. Edwin H. 
Chapin in his father's old church, to give up all secular 
labor and find his employment in a profession which he 
had chosen for the love of it and the importance of 
which could not be overestimated. 

There was always a personal charm about Starr King 
that drew his friends closer and closer to him, that 
awakened in them and kept alive an active interest in 
his career and made them feel that somehow they were 
to share in his success, and that, as the prospect bright- 
ened before him, sent a thrill of unalloyed gratification 
through their hearts. Rev. Robert Townley, who suc- 
ceeded Mr. King and occupied the pulpit in Charlestown 
for two years, and who was another able and interesting 
sermonizer, in a letter to the writer, received a short 
time after Mr. King's death, says : 

We all loved him. He was the brightest spirit I 
ever met. As Carlyle says of John Sterling, " The very 
presence of him was an illumination and inspiration 
wherever he went." This was Starr King. Much of 
the charm that was about him was personal. When 
interested he had the most radiant face and the finest, 
most spiritual eye I have ever seen ; and in the many, 
many pleasant hours we have had together I would 
sometimes try to say something for the mere pleasure of 
seeing his face light up. I have lots of characteristic 
traits of him in my memory ; indeed, it proves how he 
charmed me, for while I have forgotten all my talk with 
most people, and their very features even, I think I can 
remember something or other about Starr every time I 
saw him. 

August i i, 1894. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN ^^s 



LVIII 

Phillips Brooks 

His Connection with Charlestown through the Gorham Family — 
His Wider World-Relationship. 

CHARLESTOWN dwells with pleasant recollection 
upon the fact that the grandmother of the late 
Bishop Brooks was the daughter of one of her 
most distinguished citizens, Honorable Nathaniel Gorham. 
Lydia Gorham married John Phillips, Jr., in Charlestown, 
in 1798, and they were the parents of Phillips Brooks' 
mother. Ann Gorham, an older sister of Lydia, was the 
wife of the eminent merchant, Peter C. Brooks, who, 
although his residence was in Medford, was a large 
owner of real-estate in Charlestown and whose business 
relations with the town in the earlier days of its history 
were very important. Mrs. Brooks was the grandmother 
of William Everett, and it was her father, Nathaniel 
Gorham, the great-grandfather of both Phillips Brooks 
and William Everett, to whom the latter so proudly 
referred in one of his political speeches as president of 
the Continental Congress and signer of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. 

Phillips Brooks' grandfather, John Phillips, Jr., at the 
time of his marriage in Charlestown was a law-student 
in the office of Samuel Dexter, having graduated from 
Harvard College in 1796. But he soon gave up the 



266 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

practise of law, and was engaged in trade in Charlestown 
for some years. He was a good deal interested in the 
purchase and sale of real-estate in the town, his name 
appearing very often in transfers of that kind of property. 
He was enterprising and popular, and his early death 
was much lamented. 

But while these facts come up to our minds, and are 
so pleasing to recall, they are of but little moment when 
reflecting upon the death of Phillips Brooks and the 
influence of his life upon his fellow-men. That he died 
at the height of his fame, with no weakening of the 
powers of his mind, or prolonged bodily suffering, will 
always be a source of grateful remembrance. His was 
a light which continued to shine even while the great 
shadow was passing over us, the saddening effect of which 
was felt by everybody, for Phillips Brooks touched the 
heart and was the friend of every thinking person in the 
community. His days on the earth were spent in urging 
his fellow-men to cling to the truth and to grow up to a 
higher life by faithfulness to the duties of every-day life. 
The fatherhood and love of God and the brotherhood of 
man was his constant theme, and to strive after pure life 
that these truths might be seen and felt was the uniform 
teaching and practice of the great soul of the great 
preacher, now numbered among the departed. " Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The life 
of Phillips Brooks, like the life of the Master, is the rich 
gift from God to man, and who can estimate its value ! Its 
meaning admits of no discussion. No theological doubt 
can reach it. It has settled down into the hearts of 
humanity and is working in the direct line of goodness 
and truth. " Charity never faileth." 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 367 

The churches of any and all denominations would sig- 
nify little but for the life and spirit of Christ, and it 
is no less true that their influence for good still rests 
upon those who aim to follow that life by unfaltering 
trust in the good Father and by faith in the progress 
and triumph of good for humanity. Nothing but help- 
fulness and encouragement in the path of right living 
comes from the life and teachings of Phillips Brooks, 
and the widely extended, spontaneous, and touching 
grief at his death is but the evidence of faith in the 
purity and sincerity of his life and in the excellence and 
fullness of his spirit. And how proper it seemed, at the 
meeting of clergymen in the Old South Meeting House 
on Monday last, for sectarianism to stand aside and give 
place to the higher and truer meaning and teaching of 
the Christian religion. 

February 4, 1893. 



368 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LIX 
Two Weil-Known Families 

The Sweetsers — David Stetson and His Family. 

AMONG the early settlers in Charlestown was Seth 
Sweetser, who came here from England and, 
according to Wyman's " Genealogies," was an 
inhabitant in 1637 and admitted to the church in 1638 
or '39. He seems to have been a man of prominence, 
and one who, at his death in 1662, left an estate of value. 
His eldest son, Benjamin, a last-maker by trade, inherited 
the largest part of his father's property, and at his death 
appears to have given it to his oldest son, Benjamin. 
Frothingham, in his *' History of Charlestown," speaks of 
Seth Sweetser and his son Benjamin as Baptists, the latter 
having been fined ^50 and imprisoned for his religious 
opinions. 

The second son of Benjamin, Seth, was a trader — 
by inference a successful one, for his son Seth was 
educated at Harvard College, graduating in 1722. This 
Seth was the schoolmaster of the town, elected in 1724 
and holding the position for many years. He was after- 
wards, from 1755 to 1778, the town clerk and one of its 
most highly respected citizens. Prior to the Revolution 
his name is often found in connection with town business 
and on important and patriotic petitions, appeals, and 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 369 

other papers. The Sweetsers were numerous in Charles- 
town in times past, and they were connected by marriage 
with other famiHes of note, such as the Wigglesworths, 
Phillipses, Bradishes, Frothinghams, Kettells, Austins, 
and Rands. 

One of the sons of the old schoolmaster was named 
Henry Phillips. He was a goldsmith by occupation. 
Isaac and Colonel John Sweetser, so long and favorably 
known in the town, were his children, and so also was 
Seth, of Newburyport, the father of Rev. Dr. Seth 
Sweetser, for forty years or more the pastor of the 
Central Congregational Church in Worcester. 

Isaac was a tailor, having his place of business in a 
building owned by him on Main Street, near Thompson 
Street, the same now occupied as a shoe-store by Mrs. 
William Curry. He was very popular in the musical 
circles of his day and is remembered as a joker and wit. 
The annual excursions down the harbor of the singing 
choirs and associations were sure always to be enlivened 
and made merry by his sallies, and his playful genius was 
always a very patent fact among his friends. Colonel 
John Sweetser was a builder and architect who owned 
and occupied an estate on Union Street, near the corner 
of Richmond Street, or what is now called Rutherford 
Avenue. He represented the town in the Legislature 
in 1832, '34, and '36, and held other offices in the town 
government. His name is on the list of the original 
incorporators of the Warren Institution for Savings. 
In early life he was a military man, as his title indicates, 
and, after the reorganization of the old Charlestown 
Artillery, one of its commanders. 

Colonel Sweetser was the father of Isaac Sweetser, 



370 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

whose residence for some years was on Monument 
Square. Isaac Sweetser was in early life a clerk with 
Isaac Livermore, the selling-agent of several large man- 
ufacturing companies, and was an expert bookkeeper. 
In 1832, when he was twenty years old, he accepted an 
appointment as secretary of the Washington Insurance 
Company, of Boston, and continued in the management 
of the Boston office, as secretary and president, until his 
death. Among the prominent underwriters, both marine 
and fire, he became an authority, and the Washington 
office was always successful under his direction. 

He was an intelligent, quiet gentleman, never over- 
anxious about the affairs of other people or communi- 
cative as to his own, but who followed along the even 
tenor of his way with uniform good fortune. In the 
Harvard Unitarian Church, of which he was a deacon, 
he was always an active worker and official, and his 
attendance at the church services with his family was 
constant and reliable. He was interested in town and 
city affairs, but never desired office. He was a director 
in several large and successful corporations and well and 
most favorably known by the leading merchants and 
business men of Boston, and he honored his native town 
by his reputation for ability, sound judgment, and 
unquestioned excellence of character. Mr. Sweetser 
for some years during the summer months occupied a 
beautiful residence which he purchased on Ocean Street, 
in Lynn, and it was here he died, August 15, 1887. 

The Stetsons were also a prominent family in the old 
town. David Stetson, who came here from Scituate, 
was one of its leading citizens, and his family occupied 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 371 

a high position here for many years. He represented 
the town in the Legislature in 1826. He was one of 
the original incorporators of the Warren Institution for 
Savings, and was for some years one of the board of 
trustees. His residence was on Henley Street, or Turn- 
pike Street, as it was formerly called, and he was the 
owner of a large amount of real-estate in its vicinity. 
His house stood a little back from the street, leaving a 
grass-plot between it and a fence on the Hne of the 
street. The front and rear were of wood, the sides of 
brick, and the main entrance was at one end, on what 
was known as Stetson's Court. Everything about the 
premises was attractive and always in order. Mr. Stet- 
son was, in his early days, I think, a carpenter, and 
afterwards a dealer in lumber and other merchandise. 
He occupied a wharf leading from Water Street, nearly 
opposite what is now Gray Street. It was known and 
is put down on the old maps of the town as Stetson's 
Wharf. He was a man of much business, with ability 
and means to manage it, and was looked up to as a 
citizen of standing and character. He was active in the 
free bridge controversy and was one of the committee 
having in charge the building of the Warren Bridge. 

He was one of the original members of the Harvard 
Unitarian Society, and his name can be found on the list 
of subscribers towards the purchase of their first meet- 
ing-house, the abandoned Baptist meeting-house that 
stood at the head of Salem Street, on High Street, on 
the lot of land now occupied by ** The Salem." One of 
the sons of David Stetson, Charles, was a prominent 
business man in New Orleans. Three of his daughters 



372 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

were the wives of John J. Fiske, for many years a prom- 
inent citizen of Charlestown, John P. Welch, treasurer 
of the Fitchburg Railroad, and Samuel N. Felton, the 
distinguished civil-engineer and railroad official and 
manager. His eldest daughters, Mary and Catherine, 
will be remembered for their great usefulness in the 
Unitarian Church and in the benevolent enterprises and 
institutions in the town. 

March 23, 1895. 






OLD CHARLESTOWN 373 



LX 
The Turnpike — Chelsea Street 

Its Vicinity — Former Residents. 

A LITTLE below the David Stetson estate on 
Turnpike Street was the residence of Dr. George 
Bates, for many years the naval-store keeper. 
The house is still standing, but changed greatly in its 
appearance. Formerly it had a large open area in front 
of it, with a driveway to the stable on the lot. Now 
this land is covered by a building, and the old house has 
been converted into a fish-market. The adjoining house, 
on the corner of Henley and Putnam streets, now occu- 
pied as a bread and cake shop, was for a long period the 
home of Jonah Stetson, the father of Captain Lemuel 
Stetson, who after retiring from sea-life purchased and 
occupied one of the houses in the Harvard Row block. 
The Putnam Street house was also, for several years, 
the residence of Addison Gage, before his removal to 
Cordis Street. On the opposite corner of Putnam and 
Henley streets was the garden of Captain Larkin 
Turner. This garden-spot is now covered by the bakery 
of Mrs. McNamara, but the brick house, which was the 
Turner residence, is still standing. Captain Turner was 
a shipmaster of note in his day, and, after his retirement 
from that calling, a prominent man in the town, which 



374 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

he represented in the Legislature of 1835 and '36. He 
was one of the board of directors of the Bunker Hill 
Bank for eleven years, from October, 1834, to October, 

1845. 
The brick building referred to, for some years before 

its purchase and reconstruction by Captain Turner, was 
the business place of Isaac Larkin, tallow-chandler, and 
many were the boxes of candles tossed from the delivery- 
windows of this factory and loaded into wagons backed 
up there to receive them. Isaac Larkin was the father 
of John S. Larkin, cashier for a long while of the Mer- 
chants' Bank, Boston, and of Charles Larkin, of the 
firm of Barnard, Adams & Co., and afterwards the head 
of that of Larkin & Stackpole, largely interested in the 
South American trade. Mr. Larkin's sister was the wife 
of Abel Adams of the old house of Barnard, Adams & 
Co. This well-known Boston merchant commenced his 
business career in the store of Skinner, Hurd & Co., in 
Charlestown Square. 

Just around the corner of Turnpike Street, on Shippey 
Street (now Chestnut Street), were the pleasant homes 
of Jacob and William Caswell — the first a pump and 
block maker whose place of business was on Henley 
Place, which runs from Turnpike Street to the Navy 
Yard wall. Many times in his boyhood has the writer 
watched the boring of logs that were to be fitted with 
boxes, noses, and handles to lift the water from the 
cisterns and wells under the kitchens, washrooms, and 
yards of houses about the town, for this was the only 
water-supply at the time, and numerous sticks of lignum- 
vitse has he seen transformed into sheaves, grooved and 
fitted into blocks, while the shop was hung round with a 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 375 

wholesale supply of dead-eyes, hooks, rings, and vessels* 
tackling of , all kinds. 

William Caswell was a caulker and graver who occu- 
pied a wharf on Water Street which is now merged in 
the Hoosac Dock and Elevator property but was for- 
merly known as Caswell's Wharf. The Caswells were 
much respected citizens and enterprising and successful 
business men. They both were pew-holders in the 
Universalist Church and constant attendants at its 
services. 

The late John Mullett was the son-in-law of William 
Caswell. He was brought up with Elisha L. Phelps in 
the West India goods store on the corner of Turnpike 
and Shippey streets, the same afterwards for some years 
occupied by Jotham Johnson, Jr. This building was 
originally used as a pump and block maker's shop, and 
here Jacob Caswell is said to have served his apprentice- 
ship. Mr. Mullett, with Oliver C. Cutter, under the firm 
name of Cutter & Mullett, commenced business in 1842 
in a wooden building which was on the same site as the 
brick store afterwards built by him and which is now 
occupied by his son as his successor. Here, from 1842 
until his death in 1893, a part of the time with Oakes 
Bradbury (Mullett & Bradbury), he remained the suc- 
cessful and popular proprietor of this widely known 
business stand and store. 

Near to the Caswells, on the corner of Shippey 
(Chestnut) and Adams streets, was the residence of 
Caleb Pierce, in the brick house still standing there. 
He was for a long period the master-carpenter in the 
Navy Yard, a thrifty man who made several public 
bequests in his last will. Among them was a sum of 



376 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

money, "the income of which was to be expended in 
purchasing fuel for indigent widows whose husbands had 
resided in Charles town at least one year before their 
decease, said widows still continuing to live in Charles- 
town." The last report of the city auditor gives the 
amount of the Pierce fund as $1500, invested in city 
bonds. He also gave to the Universalist society, of 
which he was a member, a brick house on Chestnut 
Street, near his own, for a parsonage. John Wade, the 
master-boatbuilder in the Navy Yard, and Edward Hard- 
ing, the master-sparmaker, owned and occupied the brick 
houses just above Mullett's store on Chelsea Street. 
At an earlier period in the town history George Brown 
kept the grocery-store in this vicinity. It was on 
Wapping Street, as you go to the Navy Yard gate. 
Samuel C. Hunt, the father of the founder of The 
Enterprise, was his clerk and married his daughter. On 
the corner of Wapping and Water streets Philander S. 
Briggs and Briggs & Willis spent many years as the 
proprietors of a similar store, and near to them on 
Wapping Street the old wharfinger of Gray's Wharf in 
Boston, James Runey, was a figure for half a century. 

The adjoining wharf to Caswell's on Water Street 
was owned by Benjamin Brintnall, and here was a marine 
railway, of which he was the proprietor and manager. 
At this time the harbor was full of small schooners, 
brigs, brigantines, and barks, and this was one of the 
convenient places where they could be hauled up, 
re-caulked, and re-coppered, in case of need. Mr. 
Brintnall was a worthy citizen and represented the town 
in the Legislature of 1831. His brother Samuel, the 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 377 

father of Samuel R. Brintnall, of Brintnall & Osgood, 
now doing business on Main Street, also lived in this 
vicinity. 

The next wharf to Brintnall's was known as Tapley's 
Wharf, and in another article we shall say something of 
its owner, John Tapley, and of Jacob Foss, who com- 
menced his career in Charlestown in a distill-house 
near by. 

April 6, 1895. 



378 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXI 
Public-Spirited Citizens 

Jacob Foss — John Tapley. 

IT was with Samuel Townsend, son of David Town- 
send, both of whom were pump and block makers, 

that Jacob Caswell learned his trade in the shop on 
the corner of Henley and Shippey streets. The residence 
of the Townsends was on the corner of Adams and 
Shippey streets, or Townsend Street, the name by which 
it was known for some years before it was changed to 
Chestnut Street. 

The old mansion has been referred to and described 
in a former article. Something about John Tapley has 
also been said before, but not in connection with his 
business. He was a blacksmith by trade, and it has 
always been understood that the shoeing of a yoke of 
oxen by him was the first day's work done in the Charles- 
town Navy Yard after its purchase by the United States 
Government. Later on he had much to do with the 
iron-work in the Navy Yard as master-workman or con- 
tractor. One of his contracts was for repairs on the 
Cofistitiition (Old Ironsides) at some period during the 
War of i8i2-'i5. 

Tapley's Wharf, which was a part of the old Mardlin 
shipyard, as well as several of the wharves in its vicinity, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 379 

was occupied for some years principally for the repair of 
vessels, building of boats, and so forth, and his part in 
it was to look after the iron-work. A portion of the 
wharf was used as a landing-place for small vessels 
bringing wood, lumber, hay, lime, and bricks from the 
state of Maine. 

Mr. Tapley's homestead was the three-storied building 
still standing on the corner of Putnam and Common 
streets, fronting the Training Field, now Winthrop 
Square. The house on the opposite corner was the 
residence of Captain Rice, an old shipmaster, the father 
of the late Matthew and Henry Rice. These old houses 
are among the few that still retain the appearance of the 
former time. Mr. Tapley removed from here to a small 
farm on the Milk Row road, outside the Neck, which had 
formerly been a part of the large farm of Samuel Tufts, 
Mrs. Tapley's father, and it was on this small farm that 
the pack of hounds used by the fox-hunters described 
in one of the earliest of these sketches were kept for 
some years. 

Mr. Tapley and some of his sons enjoyed fox-hunting, 
and they were also skillful sportsmen. They were 

I especially well posted as to the habits and movements of 
birds, and in the gray of the early morning, when, high 
up above the hillsides, the whistling-plover was making 
his flight southward to the marshes, he was very apt to 
be discovered by their quick hearing and keen sight and 
his progress stopped by the discharge of their shot-guns. 
They also knew how much fire was needed to get the 
best flavor from these birds, and a meal from their table 

( after a successful shooting was toothsome and relishing. 
George Tapley, who afterwards, for some years, was the 



38o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

owner and proprietor of the Robinson Crusoe House, 
Chelsea Beach, enjoyed the reputation of being at the 
top of the list of accomplished gunners. 

But let us return to Henley and Wapping streets and 
bring back to our recollection that noteworthy citizen, 
Jacob Foss. He was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, 
October, 1796, and he remained there until he was 
twenty-one years old, when he came to Boston. He 
took great pleasure, after he became a successful man 
with large means, in telling the story of his leaving his 
country home with all his earthly possessions tied up in 
a bandanna handkerchief ; but in this respect he was 
only one of many young men, similarly situated, who left 
farms to seek their fortunes in the larger towns and ; 
cities of New England. 

He had made up his mind on reaching Boston to 
accept the first offer made him for steady work, and very 
soon engaged with Guy Carleton for employment in his 
morocco-factory in Roxbury, where he remained for six 
months. He then came to Charlestown, to the distillery 
of Putnam & Pratt, which then occupied the large lot of 
land now owned by Patrick O'Riorden, on a part of 
which is the brick building at the junction of Foss, 
Chelsea, and Wapping streets. Here he worked, for 
small wages at first ; but he was an industrious and 
observant man in whom his employers soon learned to 
confide, and they kept him in the line of promotion until 
he at last reached the position of foreman or super- 
intendent. 

He gave himself up to his business and made economy 
and improvement in its management his chief study, 
leaving himself no time for anything outside of it. The 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 381 

business of the distillery was large. Every day and 
evening he could be found at his post, watching the 
process of fermentation, evaporation, and condensation, 
the changing of molasses into spirit, or overseeing the 
preparation of distillery packages for shipment and a 
market. So closely did he confine himself that his 
health became impaired, and with a constant asthmatic 
tendency he was an invalid for years. But he kept on 
his course until his pecuniary growth was an assured fact 
and he was looked upon as a rich man. 

His list of acquaintances and associates was limited, 
but among his friends was one who afterwards became 
his partner and must have been of great service to him. 
At any rate they were of service to each other. This 
was the late Addison Gilmore, to whom, in connection 
with Mr. Foss and this distillery, we have referred 
before and given an account of the commencement of 
the manufacture in it of saleratus. When they had dis- 
covered that carbonic acid gas, as it escapes from the 
fermentation of molasses, would convert pearl-ash into 
saleratus, and had obtained permission to place boxes 
over the vats in the distillery for this purpose, the foun- 
dation of their fortunes was laid. Out of this business 
their gains were sufficient to make it easy for them to 
purchase the distillery when, a few years afterwards, 
Putnam & Pratt had concluded to give it up, and then 
Foss & Gilmore, as distillers and manufacturers of 
saleratus, went on successfully together for a long period 
and took their places among business men of high rating 
and large means. 

To those who remember the peculiarities of these 
two men it is interesting to think of them while their 



382 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

experiments in the distillery were being tried. Mr. Foss 
used to tell of the excitement he was under while await- 
ing results, and of his haste to report to Gilmore every 
new appearance of success, and it seems easy to under- 
stand with what rapidity Gilmore would leave his place 
of employment — the back room in the store of Samuel 
Kidder & Co. — and hurry to the distillery to test the 
truth of these reports by the evidence of his own 
senses ; and when at last it was certain that saleratus of 
the finest quality could be produced by this process, and 
that large sales at high prices could be made, we can 
guess at least at their mutual elation and enjoyment. 

The investments of Mr. Foss, outside of his regular 
business, were largely in real-estate. He purchased a 
fine residence on Chelsea Street, and enlarged and im- 
proved it. This house, which is still standing, was built 
by Shadrach Varney. Then he erected the brick build- 
ing at the junction of Henley and Chelsea streets in 
which is the hall named by him *' Constitutional Liberty 
Hall," and several other buildings in its vicinity, while 
his purchases of real-estate in the town were numerous. 
Gilmore, a bolder man, became interested in railroad- 
building and was a large owner and manager of such 
property. Foss followed him only cautiously in this 
direction. He was too prudent and careful a man to 
take the risk. 

Mr. Foss was a Democrat in politics, but was never 
a zealous partisan. He believed in the American form 
of government, and had no misgivings as to the ability 
of the people to carry it on. He was a great admirer of 
Andrew Jackson and was enthusiastic in his estimation 
of the courage and honesty of the old hero as a soldier 



OLD CHARLESTOWN ^^3 

and statesman. He looked upon Daniel Webster as the 
defender of the Constitution. Constitutional liberty 
was another of his settled convictions. This perhaps 
accounts for the name given to the hall that we have 
referred to. The character of Washington was, with 
him, the foundation on which the Republic was built ; 
and his joy was full when the fine pictures of these 
illustrious men, now in the Public Library, were first 
seen hanging side by side in the City Hall. He was a 
contributor to the funds raised by subscription for the 
purchase of the paintings of Webster and Washington, 
and that of Jackson was obtained almost wholly at his 
expense. 

Mr. Foss was a lover of his country and must have 
felt many times the thrill of pleasure that the sentiment 
or passion of true patriotism affords. But we will not 
speculate on this subject ; it will be better to tell of 
some of his thoughtful acts and let the reader draw his 
own conclusions. It will be recollected that, in answer 
to the proclamation of President Polk, May i, 1846, 
declaring the war with Mexico, and the call of Governor 
Briggs, May 16, 1846, for one regiment of seven hun- 
dred and seventy men, not to be taken from the Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer Militia, a company was raised in 
Charlestown to join this regiment and proceed to the 
seat of the war. 

While this enlistment was going on a public meet- 
ing was held in town, December 31, 1846, at which it 
was resolved that strong measures should be taken to 
aid the volunteers under Captain Barker, who was likely 
to succeed in raising a full company to represent Bunker 
Hill in the Mexican campaign, and a subscription-paper 



384 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

was started to raise funds to meet the expenses of fitting 
out the company. But this arrangement was unsatis- 
factory to some of the friends of the volunteers, who 
thought that these expenses should be paid out of the 
town treasury. The selectmen were unanimously of the 
opinion that such an expenditure was not within the 
description of necessary town charges, and declined to 
call a town meeting. But without their aid a meeting 
was called in an unusual way at which it was voted to 
appropriate $1500 for the purpose. The town treasurer 
refused to pay the amount, and an appeal to the courts 
was made to test the legality of the meeting. 

Meanwhile the money was needed, as the company 
was nearly ready to be mustered into the service. In this 
emergency Mr. Foss came forward and advanced the 
amount, so that the necessary expenditure was made. 
On the 7th of January, 1847, the officers were elected; 
and, two days after, the company (eighty-five men), after 
partaking of a collation in the Town Hall, were mustered 
into the service and quartered in Constitutional Liberty 
Hall. On the 9th of February a public meeting was 
held, at which Colonel Caleb Cushing and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Isaac H. Wright of the regiment made speeches. 
Clothing to the amount of $1000 was distributed, and 
^900 in money, collected by subscription, was divided 
among the officers and privates of the company. 

On the opening of the Civil War, in 1861, when the 
Charlestown companies — the City Guard and the Ar- 
tillery — had been ordered to proceed to the national 
capitol, ready for active service, a public meeting, April 
17, 1 86 1, was held in City Hall and a committee chosen 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 385 

to see that they were provided with all necessary sup- 
plies and to make provision for the care and comfort of 
their families. Mr. Foss was chosen a member of this 
committee. His health was such that he could not 
actively engage in its work, but he acknowledged the 
honor of the position and his appreciation of its mean- 
ing in a letter, a copy of which is as follows : 

Charlestown, April 22, 1861. 

Gentlemen — Having been chosen by the citizens of 
Charlestown, at the mass meeting held in City Hall on 
the 17th instant, one of the " committee to aid the 
Charlestown miUtary," it is impossible for me, on account 
of my feeble health, to attend personally to the detail of 
the services required by the citizens, which is the noblest 
work in this crisis for all loyal citizens. I have this day 
deposited in the Bunker Hill Bank in this city ^3000 
(a certificate of which is inclosed) to be at the disposal 
of the committee for them to draw and disburse with- 
out recourse to me, for the following purposes, viz. : 

The committee to receive all applications from the 
families of the soldiers who are citizens, that now are, 
or may be hereafter, mustered into the service of the 
United States from the city of Charlestown during the 
present war, that are needy ; and, according to their best 
judgment and discretion, to provide from the above 
amount for the necessities of such needy families from 
time to time until the whole amount is expended ; and 
in case the war should be brief, which event is my most 
sincere and constant hope and prayer, and the soldiers 
return before the whole amount is expended, the balance 
to be divided equally, according to your discretion, 
among the families that are needy or the men who in the 
darkest hour of the country's peril went manfully to the 
struggle to resist aggression, put down rebellion, and 



386 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

defend the stars-and-stripes, which to us are the choicest 
of the Revolutionary legacies. 

Sincerely hoping that peace and prosperity will speed- 
ily return to our now distracted country, 

Your obedient servant, Jacob Foss. 

To T. T. Sawyer, James Hunnewell, James Dana, 
Edward Lawrence, Committee of Citizens to Aid 
the Military, etc. 

Mr. Foss died on June 2, 1866, when he was not 
quite seventy years old. In his will were the following 
bequests : ^2000, the income to be expended towards 
** celebrating the anniversary of the battle of Bunker 
Hill, either by ringing the bells, firing salutes, music, 
or decorating the streets " ; $2000, " the income to be 
expended in the purchase of United States flags for the 
use of the city of Charlestown on all proper occasions, 
so that not more than two years' purchases shall be on 
hand at any time " ; $2000 to the Poor Fund, the income 
to be expended for the benefit of the worthy poor of 
Charlestown ; ^2000 to Tufts College. To his native 
town he gave also ^1000 for the purchase of flags 
and $2000 for the benefit of the poor. He made other 
public bequests to a considerable amount. His whole 
estate was appraised, if our memory is correct, at about 
$350,000. 

April 27, 1895. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 387 



LXII 

A Beautiful Tribute 

Mrs. Ellen A. Ranlett — David Dodge Ranlett — Isaac Brown — 
Captain Charles A. Ranlett. 

THE following notice of the death of Mrs. Ranlett, 
of Saint Albans, Vermont, was published in The 
Boston Transcript^ April 17, 1895. Something of 
the honor of the life referred to in it may be properly 
reflected upon the history of Charlestown. Its repub- 
lication will interest many readers. It is a memorial 
worthy of preservation. 

Mrs. Ranlett, the daughter of the late Isaac Brown, 
of Mount Vernon Street, was a native of Charlestown 
and was educated in our schools, graduating at the High 
School. Her husband, David Dodge Ranlett, treasurer 
of the Central Vermont Railroad, was also born here 
and fitted for Harvard College at the same school. He 
is the son of the late Captain Charles A. Ranlett, a 
shipmaster of note, for many years a citizen of Charles- 
town. His last place of residence here was in the wooden 
house on High Street, opposite Wood Street. The swell- 
front brick house now occupied by W. E. Litchfield was 
built by Captain Ranlett. His wife was the daughter of 
the old schoolmaster, David Dodge, who was also town 
clerk for more than a quarter of a century and city clerk 
for several years after the charter was accepted. . 



388 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Isaac Brown was for some time a partner in the firm 
of Hurd, Hutchins & Co., wholesale grocers in South 
Market Street, Boston, and afterwards with the sons of 
John Hurd, the senior partner of the house. 

Within the week past there went out from mortal life 
one who has been for years an appreciative and firm 
friend of The Transcript^ Mrs. Ellen Augusta Ranlett, 
of Saint Albans, Vermont, formerly Ellen Augusta 
Brown, of Charlestown, Massachusetts. When the 
" For To-day " column was instituted, Mrs. Ranlett took 
great interest in its success and development. Many 
have been the dates which have come to the editor's 
notice through her research. All books in her library 
which could be useful in any way to the column were 
freely offered. It seems, therefore, fitting that " For 
To-day " should in grateful remembrance bear its tes- 
timony to that gracious womanhood which always blessed 
and ministered unto whomever and whatever came into 
the field of its potent magnetism. 

Mrs. Ranlett' s home — and it is with her home that 
one's thought of her is always associated — was such a 
home as but few women make. It was not the tasteful 
appointments, not the many books, not the works of art 
adorning the walls, which made that home so phenomenal 
a home. It was the spirit emanating from the mistress 
that filled its atmosphere with a subtle odor of benefi- 
cence. All that she possessed or was privileged to 
enjoy she seemed to hold in stewardship for those whom 
she knew and loved. The motto over the fireplace in the 
library said a great deal — " The ornament of a house is 
the friends who frequent it." Whether one entered that 
house for a social call, or to consult with Mrs. Ranlett 
on a matter of business, or as a member of the Browning 
circle which she gathered about her, one always went 
away with the feeling that he had received something for 
himself direct from a presence as fresh and inspiring as 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 389 

God's fields and woods themselves. Largeness and noble- 
ness of nature were so much a part of all that she said 
and did that the vexing question of effect and affect with 
regard to her never intruded upon one's thoughts. Mrs. 
Ranlett never put things just as any one else ; her 
briefest notes on the most commonplace subjects were 
treasured for some unforgetable phrase which they 
inadvertently contained. They always were a bit of 
real personality. 

Those who gathered around that hospitable library 
Saturday afternoons, week after week, to read Browning, 
saw the devoted mother interested in her daughter's 
slightest pleasure, felt the wife's solicitude for her hus- 
band's comfort, and noted the woman's gracious attention 
to all social detail, and came fully to realize that, taking 
into consideration her official connection with charitable 
work and her private interest in the suffering and needy, 
this rare woman had much on her heart and mind. Still 
no one interest ordinarily ever seemed to defraud another, 
jostle against another, or be independent of all others. 
Service seemed the work to which her life was conse- 
crated, yet she ever carried herself as a benignant queen 
among women. 

One hears it said that women cannot be housekeepers, 
home-makers, wives, mothers, move in society, be active 
in church and Sunday-school, take part in literary circles 
and clubs, act upon the boards of charitable institutions, 
lead King's Daughters' circles, and maintain a womanly 
equanimity ; but here it was done well and simply. Such 
a success would seem to open upon our view a type of 
womanhood which the " new woman " should strive to 
emulate. There must be homes in our land if we would 
prosper as a nation — homes not alone for their inmates 
but for those who have no homes. Only a gracious, 
magnanimous, true womanhood such as Mrs. Ranlett's 
can make them complete. Culture, grace of manner, 
and charm of person, large. Christian ideas of life, self- 



390 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

command, and self-restraint, a warm true-heartedness, a 
tender sympathy, far-reaching, and love for humanity, 
and trust in God, are the requisites for such a worker. 
Is it not a career grand enough in its simplicity, deep 
and broad enough in its scope, and large enough in its 
aim to command the respect and consideration of all 
would-be true women ? It would seem so to any one 
favored with an acquaintance with her whom Saint 
Albans and many friends far and near, with a loving 
family, mourn. Mrs. Ranlett has left us a realized ideal 
of womanhood, satisfying as the gems of art and litera- 
ture which she loved. 

May 4, 1895. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 391 



LXIII 
Notable Citizens 

Willard Dalrymple — Daniel Johnson — Thomas Greenleaf — 
Thomas M. Cutter — William E. Norton, the Distinguished 
Artist. 

ON Adams Street, near its junction with Chelsea 
Street, is a block of three brick houses, very 
pleasantly situated, as they overlook the Navy 
Yard and command an interesting view of the harbor. 
These houses were built for their own homes by three 
well-known and much-esteemed citizens, all of whom are 
now numbered with the dead — Daniel Johnson, Thomas 
Greenleaf, and Thomas M. Cutter. 

Daniel Johnson came to Charlestown from Dover, New 
Hampshire, about the year 1837. He had just taken a 
store on Blackstone Street, Boston, for the sale of shoe- 
findings and sole-leather, and he continued there in that 
business for many years. Afterwards he removed to 
High Street, Boston, and carried on an extensive and 
successful business in leather, a part of the time with 
his sons as partners, under the style of Daniel Johnson 
& Sons. He resided all this time, and until his death in 
May, 1880, in Charlestown. His worth as a neighbor 
and citizen was discovered very soon after he came here, 
and his uniform reliability, sound judgment, and kindness 
in all the relations of life could never be questioned. 
He held many positions of honor in the town and city 



392 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

governments, and was for a long period a member of the 
board of directors of the Charlestown Gas Company and 
of the Charlestown Five Cent Savings Bank. His relig- 
ious association was with the First Universalist Society, 
and he and his family were among its most active workers 
and constant attendants. 

Thomas Greenleaf was a native of Newburyport, but 
the greater part of his life was passed in Charlestown. 
He had at one time some connection with the Middlesex 
Canal, but was afterwards engaged in the lumber trade. 
He had a great deal to do with town and city affairs, was 
selectman, assessor, and clerk of the overseers of the 
poor. This last office he filled for a very long period, as 
he was thoroughly posted as to all its requirements. 
Mr. Greenleaf was a genial, upright, cheerful man, a 
pleasant neighbor and useful citizen, the record of whose 
life is worthy of preservation. 

Thomas M. Cutter came to Charlestown a young man 
and remained here until his decease in 187 1. His place 
of business was on Charles River Avenue, at the corner 
of Water Street, where for many years he dealt in ship- 
chandlery and groceries, having more or less to do with 
navigation. He was a successful man. From 1853 to 
1 87 1 he was a director of the Bunker Hill Bank and for 
nearly a decade one of the trustees of the Warren Insti- 
tution for Savings. He was an alderman of the city for 
three years, 1855-57, ^^^ held other town and city 
offices. He had the full confidence of his fellow-citizens, 
of his associates in business matters, of his family and 
friends, and his character was such as to make him 
worthy of it. He was a member of the Harvard 
(Unitarian) Church Society. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 393 

A little way from this locality, on Chestnut Street, is 
the residence of Nahum Chapin, the original proprietor 
of the provision-store that marks the junction of Chestnut 
and Chelsea streets. Mr. Chapin, a Vermonter by birth, 
came to Charlestown in 1 840, from Waltham, Massachu- 
setts, where he had been employed as a superintendent 
in the machine-shop of the Boston Manufacturing Com- 
pany. He carried on the provision-business for twenty 
years, from 1840 to i860, when he gave it up and entered 
into the distilling-business as a partner with Thaddeus 
Richardson and afterwards with the late Colonel Ezra J. 
Trull, under the style of Chapin, Trull & Co., which is 
still continued by him. Mr. Chapin has been a good 
deal in public life as an alderman and councilman of 
Charlestown, assessor of both Charlestown and Boston, 
and member of the school committee of both cities for 
over twenty years ; and he was one of the commissioners 
to carry into effect the act of the Legislature annexing 
Charlestown to Boston. He is prominent in Odd Fellow- 
ship and Masonic Orders and is popular in their lodges 
and encampments. He is a director in the Bunker Hill 
National Bank, and one of the investment board of the 
Warren Institution for Savings, — an earnest, decided 
man, but a very friendly and reliable one. With his 
family, he is a constant attendant at the Universalist 
Church, and for some years a member of the standing 
committee of the Society. 

Another notable man living in this vicinity, who should 
not be easily forgotten, was Willard Dalrymple. He 
was born April 20, 1802, in the town of Groton, Massa- 
chusetts, and lived there with his father, Major William 
Dalrymple, until he was twenty-one years old, when he 



394 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

came to Charlestown and worked a year or two as a 
gardener on the Eben Breed estate. Then he was 
employed for a while on the Lowell Railroad, and after- 
wards by the Charlestown Land and Wharf Company 
and the Charlestown Branch Railroad, and when their 
short railroad was extended to Fresh Pond he was its 
first conductor. In connection with Ebenezer Barker he 
had much to do with the changes and improvements 
made under the direction of these corporations. When 
the Fitchburg Railroad Company was chartered and 
bought out the Charlestown Branch Railroad, he was 
employed by that company. He then became a con- 
tractor, with Mark Lenon, for filling the flats all along 
Front Street, between the Warren and Prison Point 
bridges, making the land which is now occupied by the 
freight department of the Fitchburg Railroad. From 
this time contracting for this kind of work was made a 
business by him, and large jobs in Cambridge and at the 
south end of Boston were awarded to him and carried 
out successfully. 

In December, 1854, he was elected an alderman of the 
city and served in that capacity for the three years J 
following. He was chairman of the committee on repairs 
of streets during all the time, and no city ever had a 
more faithful officer. The writer, who had the honor to 
be at the head of the government at that time, can bear 
witness to his efficiency, unselfishness, and close attention 
to his duties. How he could best perform these duties 
was uppermost in his mind, and considerations of personal 
profit or popularity weighed not a feather against his 
single purpose of faithfulness to the interest of the city. 
Always successful with his own affairs, he proved to be 



"i 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 395 

a successful alderman, and left a record of work well 
directed and well performed in the department of which 
he was the head. 

Mr. Dalrymple's residence for many years was in Bow 
Street, in a brick house purchased by him, and sold, on 
his removal to Mount Vernon Street, to Moses A. Dow. 
In the Mount Vernon Street house he remained until his 
decease, July 17, 1884. He left a large estate. By his 
will he remembered the Old Ladies' (Winchester) Home 
with a bequest of ^4000, *' in the application of which, 
members of said Home, or applicants for admission 
thereto, who are members of the First Parish in Charles- 
town shall have the preference." He was a prominent 
member of the First Parish, and he made to that also a 
bequest of ^4000, in trust, the income thereof to be 
applied to the supplying of its pulpit, provided, however, 
that if the society should be disbanded, or removed from 
its present location on Harvard Street, Town Hill, within 
forty years from his decease, the principal of the bequest 
should be forfeited. To his native town. Grot on, 
Massachusetts, he gave $4000, to be known as the 
"Dalrymple Fund," of which the income of ^2000 was 
to be applied to the purchase of books for the public 
library, the income of the other ^2000 to be applied, 
under the direction of the overseers of the poor, to the 
treatment of worthy American citizens of the town 
suffering from disease or injury to the eye. Mr. 
Dalrymple in the later years of his life was almost 
totally blind, and he had at times been helped by the 
skill of the ocuUst. To the Union (Orthodox) Society 
of Groton he gave ^4000 in trust, the income to be 
applied towards supplying its pulpit. He made many 



396 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

other bequests, generously remembering his servants, 
attendants, friends, and relatives. 

When the old Hancock house on Beacon Street, 
Boston, was doomed to destruction in anticipation of the 
erection of the block of two elegant private residences 
for the late Gardner Brewer and James M. Beebe, it was 
sold at auction and purchased by Mr. Dalrymple, by 
whom it was taken down. While this was being done a 
panel from the parlor was presented by him to Abram 
E. Cutter, who now has it in his possession. It was 
valuable as a relic of the mansion of John Hancock, the 
patriotic merchant whose bold signature emphasized the 
Declaration of Independence ; but it is yet more valua- 
ble for the painting on it of a view of the old house and 
its surroundings, by William E. Norton, the eminent 
painter, now residing in London, England, whose name 
can be found high up on the list of the most famous 
marine artists of his time. 

This is a good opportunity to speak of Mr. Norton as 
a Charlestown boy, for he was born here* and lived here 
the greater part of his life until he left for London, 
July 14, 1877. With pencil and crayon, and sometimes 
with water-colors and oil, he was busy in his school-days, 
and his early studies in crayon, as they were drawn on 
the blackboards at the Winthrop School, are still remem- 
bered by many of his old school-fellows. Long after he 
graduated from the school some of these pictures could 
be seen there as he had left them, so worthy of preserva- 



* I have since been told that Norton was bom in the north end of 
Boston, but came with his parents to Charlestown when a very young 
chOd. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 397 

tion were they thought to be. Soon after leaving school 
his desire to be on the sea induced him to ship before 
the mast and make several voyages as a sailor. He 
made this an opportunity to gather information and 
material for his intended future career. 

For a while after his return from the sea, he worked 
at fresco-painting, showing marked ability and giving 
great satisfaction to the patrons of the firm by whom he 
was employed. His evenings at this time were spent 
in the study of art at the night school of the Lowell 
Institute, and he never forgot the thoroughness of his 
instruction, nor to give credit for the kindness and 
attention of his teachers in that school. After finishing 
the course of study at the institute he opened a studio on 
Washington Street, Boston, and passed through the com- 
mon experience of young artists until, at last, he sold 
a picture to a well-known connoisseur for $100. This 
gave him courage and stimulation to continued effort, 
and after some further recognition of his talent he re- 
moved to a more commodious studio, in West Street, 
but he still made his home in Pleasant Street, Charles- 
town, and exercised his rights of citizenship in his native 
town. In his new quarters he worked very hard, and 
later on made an exhibition of his paintings at the gallery 
of Williams 8z: Everett, which was ended by an auction- 
sale on the 29th and 30th of March, 1877, the collection 
of one hundred and two pictures bringing somewhat 
over $10,000. 

In July of the same year he went to Europe, where 
he has ever since remained, one of the busiest of artists 
in his travels, his studies, and at his easel. His pictures 
have been hung in the Royal Academy and shown at 



398 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

most of the important exhibitions in London, Paris, New 
York, Boston, the world's fairs, and elsewhere, where 
they have found admirers and purchasers. A list of his 
noted paintings might be given, but it would be too long 
for our present purpose, and selection is too difficult for 
us to undertake. His reputation has been fully estab- 
lished ; his standing is his own ; but he cannot, we think, 
object to our use of his success to brighten a page in 
sketches of history of the good old town where he first 
saw the light and was introduced to this beautiful world, 
in which he has become so distinguished and must have 
enjoyed so much. 

May 1 8, 1895. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 399 



LXIV 

William Sawyer 

A Native of the Town and Prominent in Its Affairs. 



IN a notice of Jacob Foss which appeared in The 
Charlestown Enterprise during the summer of 1895, 

referring to his connection with the fitting out of a 
company from Charlestown enlisted for service in the 
War with Mexico, it was stated that the Board of Select- 
men refused to authorize the payment of an amount 
that had been voted to that company at a town meeting 
which, the Board claimed, had been illegally or informally 
notified and called. The selectmen at that time were 
William Sawyer, chairman ; James Adams, Samuel 
Ferrin, Oliver Smith, James Fosdick, James G. Fuller, 
and Joshua Magoun. 

Mr. Sawyer was a Democrat in politics and not 
opposed to the war. On the contrary, he had been 
active in the effort to raise funds for the benefit of the 
volunteers, by private subscription, in public meetings, 
and otherwise, and in urging their claims upon the 
citizens for encouragement and pecuniary assistance. 
His opposition to the payment of the mentioned demand 
on the town treasury was wholly on the ground of its 
illegality. 

Mr. Sawyer was a native of the town and had been, 
and was afterwards, prominent in its affairs. We have 
mentioned his name before as a student in the school 



400 OLD CHARLESTO WN 

kept by Abraham Andrews on Cordis Street, where he 
was fitted for college, the preUminary steps towards 
this end having been taken in the Lexington Academy 
under the direction and guidance of Rev. Caleb Stetson. 
He graduated from Harvard in 1828, in the class with 
Dr. Henry Ingersoll Bowditch, Robert C. Winthrop, 
George S. Hilliard, Charles Chauncey Emerson, and 
forty-nine others. 

After leaving the university he studied law with Joseph 
Tufts, then a prominent member of the Middlesex Bar 
having his office and residence in Charlestown. Mr. Saw- 
yer was admitted to the bar in 1833 and practised his 
profession in Charlestown for the remainder of his life. 

The Bunker Hill Aurora was first published about the 
time he left college. He was a friend of Mr. Wheildon, 
its editor, was interested in its success, and was a fre- 
quent contributor to its columns. In 1838 he prepared 
a series of extracts from the early town records and gave 
them to the public through this medium. Mr. Hunnewell, 
in his ** Bibliography of Charlestown and Bunker Hill," 
makes the following reference to these papers : 

These numerous and ample selections are important 
contributions in print to the history of the town from 
1646 to 1 8 14. They are in papers from January 20 to 
December 15, 1838, including (August 11) the votes, 
May 30, 1776, for Independence; (August 18) petition 
to Congress for aid, July 30, 1776; (August 25) report 
on it. May 16, 1777 ; (November 10) obsequies of Wash- 
ington ; and (October 27 and November 3) establishment 
of United States Navy Yard, 1800. 

Mr. Sawyer was active in the discussion of questions 
touching the interest of his native town and was ever 
anxious that its influence should be given in favor of 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 401 

liberal sentiment and just action. He was true to his 
own convictions, and did not fail to give expression to 
his opinion even though it ran contrary to the current of 
popular favor. His decided stand in favor of the tem- 
perance movement at one time brought down upon him 
much opposition and bitterness of feeling, and in his 
political career he often met with strong opposition from 
members of his own party. But he kept on his course 
and was for the most part successful in gaining and 
retaining the confidence, esteem, and approval of his 
fellow-citizens. He served the town, not only as select- 
man, but for many terms on the school committee and 
on other boards, and represented it in the Legislatures 
of 1842 and '43. For many years, in the successful 
period of its existence, he was secretary of the Charles- 
town Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and for a long 
time postmaster of Charlestown. He was also chairman 
for some time of the board of inspectors of the Massa- 
chusetts State Prison, and he filled the office of trial- 
justice for both town and city. He had a large clientage 
as a lawyer, but he was afflicted with deafness to an 
extent that interfered somewhat with his practice in 
court. He had at one time, as an associate in this 
business. Honorable F. M. Stone, now the president of 
the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. At the 
time of his death, J. Q. A. Griffin was his law-partner. 

His death was occasioned by an accident at the 
Waverley Crossing of the Fitchburg Railroad, in Wal- 
tham, on May 24, 1852. Less than a year before he 
had removed from Charlestown to Waltham. A large 
lot of pleasantly located land, in a wild state, had been 
purchased by him some years before and transformed 
by labor and expense under his own direction into a 



402 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

delightful country-seat, on which a house and stable and 
such other buildings as were requisite for a convenient 
and tasteful home had been completed and brought into 
use for his family. And here, on a beautiful day in May, 
they were living in the full enjoyment of what such a 
place can afford to lovers of life and of Nature, confident 
and expectant of life's long continuance. 

This cheering prospect was soon to be cut off by the 
deepest of shadows ; was to be followed in a moment 
by a scene of horror and a never-changing season of 
gloom. The brother of Mrs. Sawyer, Mr. John Gibbs, 
of Charlestown, had been making them an afternoon 
visit, and they were taking him in their carriage to the 
depot on his way home, when they were run down by an 
express-train as they crossed the track, no warning 
signal having been given of its approach. Mr. Sawyer 
and his eldest daughter, sixteen years old, and Mr. Gibbs, 
were instantly killed. Mrs. Sawyer, with an infant in 
her arms, was caught by the cow-catcher and carried for 
some distance along the track, to be restored to con- 
sciousness after many hours of watchful anxiety and 
doubt. Her life of disappointment was continued until 
the 13th of February, 1895, when she died at her 
residence on Bunker Hill Street. 

The details of this accident, or catastrophe, cannot be 
dwelt upon. The shock it occasioned in the city was 
very great, and the whole community was in attendance 
in and around the Universalist Church where the funeral 
took place. May 26, 1852. The services, conducted by 
Rev. Mr. Townley, pastor at the time, and by Rev. T. 
Starr King and Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapin, former pastors 
of the society, were solemn and impressive, and the 
tolling of the bells, as the bodies were borne to their 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



403 



graves, emphasized, never more clearly, the uncertainty 
of human life. 

Soon after his death a long notice of his life and 
character, from the pen of Mr. Griffin, was printed in 
The Bunker Hill AtirorUy and with some extracts from 
this notice we close the present article : 

The death of William Sawyer has settled deep and 
lasting grief in numerous hearts outside the circle of his 
relatives. I do not say this in a heartless formality of 
an obituary. I do not say it in view of the hold he 
enjoyed in the confidence of the public for many years 
and at the time of his death, as evidenced by the stations 
of respectability and trust he filled. Mr. Sawyer him- 
self never based his own estimate of any human being 
upon his reputation and the position he held ; he criticized 
the character and scrutinized the man. A generous 
heart was always by him regarded as a better diploma 
of merit than a title or an office. ... A most intimate 
knowledge of his modes of thought and principles of 
action qualify me, I hope, to speak with accuracy in 
regard to him. It is the more easy, as he had no dis- 
guises as respected those near him. To his friends he 
uniformly opened his whole heart and dealt with a bold 
frankness which might offend a stranger. His impul- 
sive spirit never hesitated to give forcible expression to 
the thought or the feeling which struggled for utterance. 
This was not less a quality of the heart than of the mind. 
His intellect was vigorous and acted with astonishing 
celerity. He never debated a proposition for any great 
length of time. His first thoughts were those upon which 
he acted, and they were generally such as to lead him to 
no mistake. He reached in a moment that point which 
many would fail to attain by a day's reflection and mental 
travail. That time which men would lose in doubts and 
fears and hesitancy he filled full of the most efficient 
action. And yet he never acted rashly. . . . Joined to 
this there was an iron and courageous industry which 



404 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

chained him constantly to the post which duty assigned 
him. Whatever his hands found to do he did with all 
the energy of his spirit. He went to his labor and 
sustained it with a glad heart and an unvarying buoyancy 
of spirit which made him a most acceptable fellow-laborer 
and companion. He adorned his daily life with a con- 
stant assiduity and an unwearied cheerfulness which 
will linger long in the memories of those dear to him 
here. His talents were most readily recognized and he 
was most loved by those who most intimately knew him. 
I speak what every one of those intimate with him will 
say when I assert that William Sawyer never did an 
intentional and deliberate wrong. But he has gone — 
cut down in the maturity of his strength, in the happiest 
years of a happy life, in the midst of his usefulness, and 
leaving many loved ones behind him to drink together 
the bitterest cup of grief ever offered to their lips. 

J. Q. A. Griffin, who was the law-partner of William 
Sawyer for some time previous to his death, continued 
the business in Charlestown until his own death on May 
23, 1866, aged thirty-nine years. Much of the time he 
was a resident here. He represented the city in the 
Legislature of 1855, and was city solicitor for some 
years. He very soon became prominent as a member of 
the bar, and as a legislator was at once marked as a man 
of genius and ability. He made many warm friends, 
and although naturally sarcastic in his manner he was 
successful in retaining his popularity. His health failed 
early in his life, and he died a young man. A career of 
great promise was thus cut off and a life of usefulness 
and eminence made all too short. 

September 7, 1895. 



I 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 405 



LXV 

Successful Men 

John Wade Damon — Captain Joseph B. Thomas — Patrick 
O'Riorden. 

WE are hearing so much about Havana and of 
what is going on there that it calls to mind our 
former townsman, the late John Wade Damon, 
who spent so many years of his life in Cuba. I have 
wondered what he would say to us as to the duty and 
policy of helping to free that island from the government 
of Spain. He could throw light upon many points that 
it would be well for us to see, and help us to form a 
proper judgment as to the size of the job we have under- 
taken in our declaration of war. I think he would say 
to us that, in the progress of the world, the time has 
arrived for the independence of Cuba, and that, from its 
nearness to the scene of action, the intervention of the 
United States has been unavoidable. One thing is 
certain, he would be emphatic in his charge to us to give 
our flag to the breeze, and to stand fimily and faithfully 
by the Government until its task is accomplished. 

Some notice of Mr. Damon as one of the old residents 
of Charlestown will be of interest. 

Perhaps the best example of a modern-built place of 
residence within the limits of Charlestown is the brick 
building which stands fronting the Monument on the 



4o6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

comer of Monument Square and Monument Avenue, now 
the residence of Mr. P. O'Riorden. It was erected for 
Mr. John Wade Damon, its first occupant. He was a son 
of Massachusetts, born in Scituate, West Parish, Novem- 
ber 1 2th, 1792, but he had spent many years of his life 
in Havana, Cuba, where he accumulated a fortune, 
largely, but not wholly, from his connection with the ice- 
business, under a monopoly granted by the government 
at first to Frederic Tudor, with whom Mr. Damon after- 
wards became a partner. 

Mr. Damon, who was an uncle of Dr. Henry Lyon, 
on his visits here made the doctor's house his head- 
quarters, and in this way became acquainted with Charles- 
town people and interested in the property and welfare 
of the place. This led to his purchase of the house on 
the corner of Green and Main streets, in which he resided 
for some years ; and also to the purchase of a large 
estate situated about half way between the old bridge 
and the Navy Yard, known at the time as Harris' Wharf, 
and later as Damon's Wharf ; and also of the very 
eligible lot of land on Monument Square, on which was 
erected by him the building we have referred to which 
became his homestead some years before his death which 
occurred here. After he had secured this lot of land 
and decided upon the erection of a new house, he, as 
much of his time would be spent in Cuba, entrusted the 
carrying out of his plans to an old friend, a well-known 
mechanic of Boston, Mr. J. G. Newell, who was to pro- 
ceed with the work as if it were his own, having instruc- 
tions to spare no expense necessary to make everything 
about it of the first class, taking time to have materials 
and workmanship as perfect as possible. In this way, 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 407 

with a faithfulness seemingly difficult to be understood 
by this generation, the building was commenced and com- 
pleted, every detail under the personal inspection of Mr. 
Newell, a man of ample means and mechanical skill 
whose special aim was to merit the confidence of his 
employer and fully sustain his own good reputation. 
The lookers-on as the work progressed could easily dis- 
cover that this was to be no ordinary building, and when 
it was completed its superiority found ready acknowledg- 
ment. 

Mr. Damon commenced his business life as a mechanic, 
and in the capacity of a carpenter had been employed by 
Mr. Tudor at various places, among them Havana, Cuba, 
in superintending the construction of houses for the 
storage of ice. The privilege of erecting an ice-house 
in Havana on public ground, in the Plaza San Francisco, 
had been granted to Mr. Tudor, and in the latter part of 
the year 1821 Mr. Damon was selected by him to proceed 
again to Havana, where he was to reside and take charge 
of the business there for a compensation of ten per cent, 
on the gross sales of ice. Here then he went, and here 
he continued to reside until he built the house we have 
described and fixed his residence in Charlestown. 

In 1824 a new arrangement was entered into and Mr. 
Damon became the partner of Mr. Tudor, with a specified 
ownership and interest in the business. But the con- 
struction of the partnership papers, never satisfactory 
to Mr. Damon, was such as to lead to misunderstanding 
and disagreement, and finally to litigation which lasted 
for a long period. Both parties were strong men and 
the suits between them were carried on with unyielding 
determination, and were only closed by a compromise 



4o8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

at last. A book of nearly three hundred pages, entitled 
" The Ice-House Controversy," was printed for Mr. 
Damon in 1846, and distributed among his friends and 
many of the leading business men of the times. It was, 
and is, entertaining reading to those who were acquainted 
with the peculiarities of the contestants and who were 
more or less cognizant of the strategic movements in 
the fight as it was kept up by them for more than a 
quarter of a century. The nine points of possession 
were always held by Mr. Damon, and were never yielded, 
although many bold attempts were made to take them 
from him by storm. The proposal for compromise at 
last came from Mr. Tudor. While it lasted it w^as a fight 
in earnest by both parties, the money cost of which, as 
may be guessed, was very great. 

When Mr. Damon purchased the Harris Wharf prop- 
erty it was in a dilapidated condition. The estate was 
large, but only a small part of it was occupied, and on 
that Alfred Carleton carried on a wood and coal business. 
Nothing in the way of improvement, or repairs even, had 
been made upon it for years. It had been nominally for 
sale, but at prices far above its estimated value by any 
purchaser. It belonged to the heirs of Jonathan Harris, 
an old family, who held it undivided. It was at last sold 
at auction and Mr. Damon was the highest bidder. As 
soon as possible after the deeds were passed, contracts 
were made for filling and piling to the harbor-commis- 
sioners' line, and then a block of substantial brick store- 
houses was erected, and other structures of wood, all 
adapted to the needs and requirements of a first-class 
wharfage and storage establishment. 

Damon's Wharf soon became a well-known and well- 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 409 

patronized place of business, and was increasingly 
prosperous up to the time when, by authority of the 
Legislature, it was taken by the Hoosac Tunnel Dock 
and Elevator Company to form a part of their great 
steamship and railroad landing and loading-station. 

The family of Mr. Damon, soon after his decease, 
March 29, 1863, removed to New York and the estate 
on Monument Square was offered for sale. About this 
time Captain Joseph B. Thomas, who had been a very 
successful business man in California, occupying as such 
a high position in San Francisco, had resolved to return 
to New England and take up his abode in Boston ; and 
at the suggestion of the late Thomas M. Cutter he was 
induced to examine this house as a place of residence. 
The writer had the pleasure of being present when he 
made his first visit to it. Captain Thomas evidently 
knew a good thing when he saw it. He was interested 
in the old battlefield, his grandfather having been among 
its defenders at the battle of Bunker Hill. He liked 
the location for this reason and for its healthfulness. 
In a short time he concluded a bargain for the purchase 
of the property, and it became his home until the day of 
his death, January 13, 1891. 

Captain Thomas was a New Englander. His boyhood 
days were spent in Pittston, Maine, where he was born, 
June 23, 181 1. His mother was a Charlestown girl, and 
his grandfather, as we have said, took part in the battle 
of Bunker Hill. We suppose him to have been one of 
those boys who had a hankering for a life on the sea, for 
he commenced such a life when he was fourteen years 
old, and continued it for more than a quarter of a century. 
All of his brothers followed the same callins:. He was 



4IO OLD CHARLESTOWN 

given the command of a ship when a very young man, and 
was successful and popular as a navigator and shipmaster. 
His voyages were to almost every part of the world, but 
largely in the packet-lines between Philadelphia and 
Liverpool, England. He built several vessels on his 
own account, and was at one time interested in the 
South American trade. He was attracted to California 
in 1850, and took his ship, the Tho7nas Watson^ to San 
Francisco. He made two voyages, and on the last one 
took with him a frame house and had it put together 
after his arrival, it being one of the first of this kind of 
structure erected there. He soon after gave up going 
to sea, but not his interest in shipping, and established 
himself in San Francisco in a large shipping and com- 
mission business. He became very prominent in every- 
thing calculated to promote the growth and interest of 
California, and during the Civil War was active in the 
movement led off by Starr King, which it is generally 
admitted saved the State to the Union. In 1868 Cap- 
tain Thomas closed his active business in California, went 
abroad for a year or two, and on his return took up his 
residence here. He was soon tempted into business 
again. He lent his aid in the establishment of a small 
sugar-refinery gotten up by Gustavus A. Jasper, — who 
had been the superintendent of the sugar-refinery on 
Front Street, Charlestown, then closing up, — and 
became interested enough in the sugar-business to pur- 
chase and entirely refit the large refinery of the late 
Paul Adams at South Boston, giving it the name of the 
Standard Sugar Refinery, which was kept in full opera- 
ation until the Sugar Trust or American Sugar Refining 
Company was formed, of which Captain Thomas became 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 411 

the vice-president and into which the Standard was 
merged. 

The extent of the accumulations of Captain Thomas 
has never been made known to the pubHc, but it is safe 
to assume as more than probable that he was the 
wealthiest man who ever lived and died in Charlestown. 

Mrs. Thomas, after the decease of her husband, 
removed to the city proper, and the estate, being again 
for sale, was purchased by Mr. O'Riorden, who is now 
its occupant. 

Mr. Patrick O'Riorden is another self-made man. He 
has long made Charlestown his home and the headquar- 
ters of his extensive business. He came from Ireland 
when a boy, November 5, 1847, settled permanently in 
Charlestown in 1856, placed his foot upon a low round of 
the ladder, and has so far climbed it successfully, making 
for himself an enviable reputation both for his business 
capacity and exemplary character. Evidence of his enter- 
terprise, perseverance, and industry is made patent by 
the fact that his name would stand high on a list of the 
largest holders of real-estate in old Charlestown or new ; 
while his reputation for shrewdness and foresight is gain- 
ing confidence and strength. 

May 14, 1898. 



412 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXVI 
Monument Square 

G.Washington Warren — Peter Hubbell — George D. Edmands — 
The Edmands Family. 

THE building on the corner of Monument Square 
and Chestnut Street, the present residence of 
George D. Edmands, and the adjoining building, 
the home of the widow of the late George W. Little, 
whose quiet and useful life cannot be easily forgotten in 
Charlestown, were erected by Honorable G. Washington 
Warren and Peter Hubbell, who were the pioneers in 
the improvement of the lots as they had been laid out 
around the Monument. They planned and put up these 
fine architectural houses, occupied them, and enjoyed 
them for many years. They were attractive homes, 
where comfort and taste and the entertainment of 
friends could be, and were, enjoyed. There must be 
many in the land of the living who can testify to the 
correctness of this remark. They were among the 
bright spots in the social aspect of the town and con- 
tributed their share in making a favorable impression 
as to its social standing on the minds of visitors and 
strangers. 

Mr. Warren was the president of the Bunker Hill 
Monument Association from 1847 to 1875, twenty-eight 
years, and many distinguished visitors to the Monument 
were entertained by him here with liberality and elegance. 
The history of the Association, a book of over four 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 413 

hundred octavo pages, compiled by Mr. Warren, is an 
interesting and valuable volume, a record of the past of 
the Association, and of its contribution to the literature 
of the country in the addresses of its presidents, copies 
and fac-similes of valuable letters, and the many speeches 
of eminent men delivered on its anniversary and other 
occasions — Webster, Everett, Winthrop, Andrew, and 
Devens being among the number. 

Mr. Warren was the son of Deacon Isaac Warren, 
about whom we have said something in an article on the 
former residents of Bow Street. He was a graduate of 
Harvard College in 1830, was mayor of the city for the 
first four years of its Hfe, 1 847-' 50, a director in the 
Charlestown Gas Company, one of the trustees of the 
Warren Institution for Savings, and represented the 
town and city in both branches of the Legislature. He 
delivered the Fourth of July oration before the City of 
Boston in 1881. He was judge of the municipal court 
for a quarter of a century, and a marked figure in the 
history of Charlestown while it was a separate city. He 
died Sunday, May 13, 1883. 

Peter Hubbell came to Charlestown from New York 
State very soon after the completion of the Charlestown 
Branch Railroad in 1843, when its termini were Fresh 
and Spy ponds in Cambridge and the Charlestown 
wharves, the road having been constructed especially for 
the transportation of ice. Mr. Hubbell had large 
experience in brick-making, and the late Nathaniel J. 
Wyeth, connected with Mr. Tudor in the ice-business, 
had, in the vicinity of Fresh Pond, valuable clay-lands 
that he proposed to develop as additional business for 
the new railroad. A contract for the excavation and 
delivery of the clay by Mr. Wyeth at the brick-yards. 



414 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

and a low rate of transportation by the railroad company, 
were the inducements for Mr. Hubbell to close his busi- 
ness in New York and come here. The scheme was a 
very successful one, the business added largely to the 
receipts of the railroad and was very profitable to Mr. 
Hubbell, who soon took up his residence here and con- 
tinued it until his death, January 9, 1871. A little while 
before this occurred he had formed the Bay State Brick 
Company, which has kept up the business to the present 
time. Not long after Mr. Hubbell came here he met 
with a serious accident. His custom was to go to the 
works every day, on the train. He was a very active 
man, and often jumped from the platform while the cars 
were in motion ; but he made one jump too many and 
lost a leg as a consequence. But the amputation of a 
limb did not dampen his ardor, and it hardly lessened his 
activity. With an artificial limb and the use of a cane 
he disguised his infirmity and kept about for years as if 
nothing had happened. 

Mr. Hubbell was a man of fine presence, a much 
esteemed, energetic, and busy citizen. Outside of his 
regular business, the Charlestown Gas Company and the 
Monument Bank, of both of which he was president, 
can be cited as evidence of his enterprise. He was 
practically the founder of the bank, and he was the life 
and soul of the gas company in its early days. Saint 
John's Episcopal Church and Society were marked by his 
friendship and energy, and by the membership of himself 
and wife, on whom the patriotic and benevolent move- 
ments of the town could ever depend for assistance and 
hearty encouragement. 

The present occupant of the Warren house, Mr. 
Edmands, is of the firm of Preston & Merrill. He is 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 415 

also the able treasurer of the Colorado Smelting Com- 
pany. Preston & Merrill were originally apothecaries. 
They began the foundation of a large fortune by the 
manufacture of baking-powders, with which for many 
years they leavened the whole of California as well as 
many other places of rising importance. The baking- 
powders were exchanged for gold, and the gold for gold- 
mines, which the Colorado Smelting Company has been 
working to the profit of its stockholders for many years 
and is not yet out of breath. 

Mr. Edmands belongs to a very old Charlestown 
family. Walter Edmands was here and admitted to the 
church in 1652, and his wife two years after, in 1654. 
Some of their descendants have made their homes here 
ever since. John Davis Edmands, the father of George 
D., and his brother, James Capen Edmands, were prom- 
inent in their time as thrifty and enterprising mechanics. 
Some of the buildings erected by them can still be 
shown. The brick store on Main Street now occupied 
by W. P. Henry as a provision-store, and the brick build- 
ing that makes the corner of Devens and Middlegate 
(now Prescott) streets, were erected by James C. 
Edmands. The upper room of the first-mentioned build- 
ing was at one time known as Edmands Hall. The 
lower part was a book-publishing store, the occupants of 
which are referred to in another article. 

Thomas Edmands, a cousin of the before-mentioned 
brothers, was a very popular man. He was one of the 
early commanders of the Warren Phalanx and one of 
the original members of the company when it was char- 
tered in 1804. He will be best remembered as of the 
old, well-known book-publishing house of Lincoln & 
Edmands, Boston. His son. General Benjamin F. 



4i6 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Edmands, was long known as a military man and an 
expert chief-marshal on many public occasions. Another 
son was the Honorable J. Wiley Edmands, for many 
years a partner in the distinguished firm of A. & A. 
Lawrence & Co., and a member of Congress for one or 
two terms. 

Benjamin and Barnabas Edmands, brothers, were also 
cousins to John D., James C, and Thomas. The former 
has been referred to as a resident of Washington Street. 
Barnabas, whose homestead was in Richmond Street 
(Rutherford Avenue), in his early business life was a 
brass-founder, but he gave this up and, assisted by his 
brother-in-law, W^illiam Burroughs, established a pottery 
on Austin Street, not far from the State Prison. It was 
a family joke that, inasmuch as their ancestor, Walter 
Edmands, the first settler, was a distiller, it was but 
natural for his descendants to take up jug-making. For 
a time in the early history of the pottery Frederic Car- 
penter, the father of the late Marcellus Carpenter, was 
a partner with Mr. Edmands. After many years the 
pottery was removed to a wharf-estate on Mystic River 
which had been purchased by Mr. Edmands. In 185 
he sold the business to his sons, Edward and Thomas 
R. B., and Charles Collier, who had been his foreman, 
and they continued it under the style of Edmands & 
Co., adding to it the manufacture of drain-pipe; the 
latter part of the time by machinery, an invention of 
Mr. Collier's for the purpose having been patented. 
This part of the business has now been given up, owing 
to western competition which has made it unprofitable, 
but the original pottery-manufacture is still kept up by 
Edmands & Hooper, as successors to Edmands & Co., 
at their kilns on Medford Street. 



II 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 417 

Barnabas Edmands was one of the original members 
of the First UniversaUst Society and of the committee 
to build their meeting-house, and during the continuance 
of his long life he was a constant attendant on the 
services there, and a deacon of the church. He died 
January 13, 1872, aged ninety-three years, ten months. 
He was not only an enterprising man, but he merited 
and held the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens 
by the excellence of his character. 

Mr. Edmands' second wife was the sister of the Rev. 
Dr. Thomas Whittemore, who was a Charlestown boy, 
at one time an apprentice to Mr. Edmands in the brass- 
foundry business. In his autobiography Mr. Whittemore 
refers to this, and has much to say about his boyhood in 
Charlestown. He rose to prominence as a clergyman 
and as president of the Vermont & Massachusetts and 
the Fitchburg railroads, but he did not forget his early 
struggles or the freaks and follies of his youth. 

Many well-known and esteemed citizens were con- 
nected with the Edmands family by marriage. The 
wives of the late Nathan Merrill, schoolmaster and 
postmaster, Colonel Solomon Parsons, and the recently 
much-mourned William Murray were daughters of John 
D. Edmands. Abram E. Cutter and the late William 
H. Finney married daughters of Barnabas. 

The Edmands family is represented in Charlestown 
to-day by George D. Edmands, of Monument Square, 
and by Thomas R. B. Edmands, who, with his daughters, 
occupies the homestead on Monument Avenue, except 
for the summer months which they spend at their 
beautiful residence at Sorrento, Maine. 

May 21, 1898. 



4i8 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXVII 

High Street 

Numbers 44 and 46 — Edward Lawrence and T. T. Sawyer. 

THE Charlestown Club, one of the popular organ- 
izations of to-day, purchased, and the members 
are now using, for their club-house the former 
residence and grounds of the late Honorable Edward 
Lawrence, on High Street ; and thanks to them the 
beautiful garden is still kept up and generously offers its 
attractions to passers-by, as it always did in the life-time 
of its former owner. There must be, among the mem- 
bers of the club, some of those who are touched with 
the same spirit as he was ; who are filled with the same 
desire to please and benefit their fellow-men ; who plan 
for their own enjoyment by finding out what will make 
others happy. 

The Lawrence house and the adjoining one occupy a 
part of what was once known as the Samuel Dexter 
estate, a description of which is given in the first chapter 
of this volume. That chapter was written just after 
the purchase and dedication of the mansion-house by 
Abraham Lincoln Post of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and we were glad that in its new use its 
exterior could be preserved for a while longer to aid in 
keeping alive pleasant memories of its former occupancy. 
So now we rejoice that the Charlestown Club is satisfied 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 419 

with the exterior of the residence of Mr. Lawrence as 
he left it, and that year after year they cheer the neigh- 
borhood with a well-kept lawn, with the refreshing play 
of the fountain, and with a fine display of beautiful 
flowers, skillfully arranged and faithfully cared for. 

In 1850 what remained of the Dexter estate, at that 
time the property of the heirs of Hamilton Davidson, — 
the land on Main Street on which the Dexter Row 
block had been built, and that on Green Street on which 
stands the Winthrop Church, having been previously 
sold, — was laid out into lots and advertised to be sold 
at auction. The mansion-house, with a liberal allow- 
ance of land, was one lot ; and there were eleven other 
lots, four fronting on High Street and seven on the 
court that runs in by the side of the Winthrop Church 
from Green Street. Before the day set for the auction 
arrived, the mansion-house and lot was purchased at 
private sale by Rhodes G. Lockwood ; and nine of the 
other lots, the four on High Street and five on the court, 
by Edward Lawrence and T. T. Sawyer. The two 
remaining lots, on the lower side of the court, were bid 
in at auction by James Adams, and were transferred by 
him to Jacob Forster, as they adjoined the rear of the 
latter's estate fronting on Main Street. In this way the 
Samuel Dexter mansion with its extensive grounds, 
afterwards the elegant residence of Giles Alexander, 
Nathan Bridge, and Hamilton Davidson in succession, 
was lost to sight and is to memory dear only to those of 
us who knew it in its days of grandeur, when in its com- 
pleteness it vied with the most beautiful of private 
residences and was growing more and more beautiful as 
a home for its owners and a paradise for the birds. 



420 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

In the fall of 1850 the foundations of the Lawrence 
and Sawyer houses were laid, and in the summer of 
185 1 the owners moved into their new homes. The 
choice of the lots was arranged pleasantly and satis- 
factorily, the sunny side the more readily yielded to Mr. 
Lawrence inasmuch as the writer had taken a fancy to 
the large tulip-tree still growing, which would stand in a 
conspicuous place in his garden if he took the other 
side. John B. and Charles Wilson and Elisha Faunce 
were the contractors, and the work went on successfully 
and harmoniously to the finish. Mr. Lawrence and the 
writer, with their families, lived there as neighbors and 
friends from the summer of 185 1 to the time of Mr. 
Lawrence's death, Saturday, October 17, 1885. 

Edward Lawrence was born June 21, 1810, in the 
pleasant town of Harvard. His childhood and boyhood 
were spent there, and his memory of it was ever precious 
and sacred. When he was fifteen years old he came to 
Charlestown, and for sixty years honored it by his sound 
character and useful Hfe, the impression of which was so 
surely fixed upon the minds of all who knew him that to 
add a word of eulogy seems superfluous and unnecessary. 
A tender expression of friendship and regard comes 
unbidden to the heart, but the head feels no need for 
emphasizing the good name which he made for himself 
and left untarnished and secure. 

His arrival in Charlestown was anticipated by an 
offer of employment in the furniture-manufactory of Mr. 
Charles Forster, and in this establishment his youthful 
days were passed and his manhood career commenced, 
for he became the business partner of Mr. Forster, 
under the style of Forster & Lawrence, and was for 



i 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 421 

more than thirty years the successful manager of a very 
large furniture-business, from which he retired in 1863. 
On October 3, 1842, he was made a director in the 
Bunker Hill Bank, and he became its president, October 
2, 1855, which office he held continuously until his 
death. He was elected one of the board of trustees of 
the Warren Institution for Savings in 1843 ^^^ a vice- 
president in 1850; and he was for thirty-three years 
(from 1853 to 1886) one of its board of investment. 
He was also a director in railroad and manufacturing 
corporations, and, after the death of his brother-in- 
law, Richard Baker, Jr., he was one of the trustees of 
his large estate. 

Besides all this, he was interested and active in public 
affairs. Elected very early in life a member of the 
Board of Selectmen, he was re-elected for many years, 
several of which he served as chairman. After the city 
charter was accepted in 1847 he was urged many times 
to accept its higher positions, but he declined until his 
friend, Richard Frothingham, was elected mayor, when 
he consented to be an alderman, serving three years ; 
and again under the three years' administration of the 
writer he lent his valuable aid as an alderman for the 
whole time. When the Mystic Water Works were pro- 
jected in 1862 he was chosen chairman of the first board 
of water commissioners, and he held that position until 
1873, when he resigned. The record of the construction 
and cost of the Mystic Water Works affords mathemat- 
ical evidence of the honesty, sagacity, and energy of the 
first water board. 

Mr. Lawrence represented the city in both branches 
of the State Legislature, and rendered valuable service 



422 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

in perfecting the bill for the annexation of Charlestown 
to Boston, which was passed while he was in the Senate 
in 1872. He was a member of the Universalist Church 
and served on the standing committee of the society for 
nearly half a century, occupying that position at the time 
of his decease. 

In social life he was highly esteemed. He met his 
friends with cordiality, and received them with a hearty 
greeting at his own home, the scene of many happy and 
brilliant gatherings and superb entertainments. His 
memory for good stories and his faculty for telling them 
at the right time were remarkable, and his quiet way of 
joining in the amusement they occasioned was peculiarly 
his own. His generosity is told in the record of benefac- 
tions in Charlestown during his time, for it would be 
hard to find one in which his name does not appear on 
its list of contributors. 

The eldest daughter of Mr. Lawrence was the wife of 
Mr. Daniel F. White, of Charlestown, and afterwards of 
John Chandler, of Boscawen, New Hampshire. Harry K. 
White, of Lee, Higginson & Co., Boston, is a grandson. 
Mrs. John Kent, of Chestnut Hill, is another daughter. 
Edward Lawrence, of Wellesley, and Charles R. Law- 
rence, of Brookline, now the president of the Bunker 
Hill National Bank, are his sons. 

Of Mr. Sawyer's daughters, Mrs. Thomas O. Richard- 
son died June i, 1878. Two others are the wives of 
Mr. Calvin P. Sampson and Mr. Horace H. Stevens, 2d, 
of Jamaica Plain. Miss Mary C. Sawyer is still at 
home. Timothy T. Sawyer, Jr., of Boston, is the only 
son. 

June ii, 1898. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 423 



LXVIII 

Monument Square Again 

Lynde A. Huntington — Rev. Dr. W. I. Buddington — Rev. 
Oliver C. Everett — Dr. Luther V. Bell — Mrs. Henry 
Forster — Dr. Edward J. Forster — Rev. James B. Miles. 



IT will be interesting, I think, to read something con- 
cerning the erection of other buildings around Mon- 
ument Square, and about their former occupants. 
After the Warren and Hubbell houses were built, Mr. 
Lynde A. Huntington built the house on the opposite 
corner of Chestnut Street, and it was his happy home 
until his death. We have referred in another article to 
his superior character and are made happy by reflection 
upon it whenever memory is stirred by any allusion to 
the good man. Then, Richard Frothingham's patriotism 
became stronger than his love for the locality on which 
his ancestors first settled, and he left his residence on 
the corner of Main and Oak streets for a new home in 
the building next below the Huntington's, which he had 
erected for the purpose, and where he kept up the 
historical researches and friendly relations we have 
specially referred to in a chapter on the Frothingham 
family. About the same time Doctor Gunter, of the 
city of Washington, District of Columbia, built the house 
in the rear of the Monument, next to the corner of 



424 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Lexington Street, for his daughter, the wife of Rev. 
William I. Buddington, then the pastor of the First 
Church. The Buddingtons lived in it until it became 
needful for Mrs. Buddington to remove to a warmer 
climate, she being in feeble health. After that time it 
was occupied by Rev. Oliver C. Everett during the whole 
period of his service here as missionary of the Harvard 
Unitarian Society and pastor of the Edgeworth Street 
Chapel. Sometime afterwards it was purchased by John 
Boyle O'Reilly, but he never removed from the house 
34 Winthrop Street, in which he resided for many years 
before his death, August lo, 1890. 

Doctor Buddington' s ministry in Charlestown was a 
very successful one, and during the fifteen years he was 
here he made many warm personal friends. He was a 
growing man and very soon became prominent among 
the Congregational ministers. He removed to Washing- 
ton from here, but was afterwards settled over a large 
society in Brooklyn, New York, where he died. While 
in Charlestown he compiled his very interesting history 
of the old church. 

His successor in Charlestown was Rev. James B. 
Miles, who was ordained and installed here on January 
2, 1855. The sunshine of his kind spirit was soon 
reflected upon all who came in contact with him. Among 
his own people, and with his fellow-citizens generally, he 
was very highly esteemed and was looked upon with 
great confidence and regard. He was interested in the 
schools and in all matters which could affect favorably 
the welfare of the city. He remained here seventeen 
years, living all the time in Adams Street, near the 
corner of Monument Square, and gave up his pastorate 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 425 

to take the position of secretary of the American Peace 
Society. After this, in the interests of that society and 
of the association for the reform and codification of the 
law of nations, he made several successful visits to 
Europe and was becoming very popular as their repre- 
sentative and prominent in the discussions and move- 
ment for arbitration in the place of war among the 
nations, when he was taken down with peritonitis at 
Worcester, Massachusetts, while on a visit there, and 
died suddenly, November 13, 1875. 

Mr. Nathaniel F. Frothingham built the house adjoin- 
ing that of Doctor Buddington, and occupied it until his 
decease. He was for many years successfully engaged 
in ship-brokerage on Long Wharf, in Boston, and was 
widely known among merchants and business men. 

The house on the corner of Monument Square and 
Monument Street was built by Mrs. Henry Forster. 
She had planned it for her own and her children's 
accommodation and the entertainment of friends, and 
she used it generously for this purpose until her three 
sons were graduated from Harvard University and her 
daughter married, when she sold it and removed to 
Jamaica Plain, where she now resides in a new house 
delightfully situated on the Park near Jamaica Pond. 

The house on the opposite corner of Monument 
Street was built in 1874 by F. L. Oilman, who lived in 
it until May, 1879, when it was purchased by Dr. 
Edward J. Forster, who occupied it until a few years 
ago, when he removed to the city proper. His successful 
career and recent death while he was occupying the 
position of Surgeon-General of the State of Massachu- 
setts is fresh in the memory of us all. 



426 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

On the Concord Street side of the square Dr. Luther 
V. Bell built the house now the residence of Dr. Henry 
Lyon, and occupied it six or seven years, until his death, 
February ii, 1862, at Camp Baker, two miles from 
Budd's Ferry, on the Potomac, where his life was laid 
down for his country. He had offered his services as a 
surgeon in the army, and in the performance of his 
duties as such contracted the disease which ended his 
life. Doctor Bell acquired fame in his profession, 
especially in the treatment of insanity while he was at 
the head of the McLean Asylum and other similar 
institutions. He had reached an age when exemption 
from active service would have been natural and honor- 
able, but he saw the need of skillful treatment among 
the country's defenders in her time of trial, and he could 
not withhold the aid that he felt he might render. His 
funeral took place at Saint John's Church, which had 
been his place of worship, February 17, 1862, and he 
was borne to his grave with all the marks of affection, 
respect, and honor which his life here, as well as his 
position, had earned and secured for him. 

The present club-house of the Catholic Literary 
Union was built by James Lee, Jr., who removed here 
from Boston and occupied it for many years, after which 
he sold it to E. G. Byam and went back to the city 
proper. While here, Mr. Lee was interested and active 
in Charlestown society and affairs, and served several j 
years on the school committee and one term in the 
Legislature. 

The house recently sold by W. E. Carleton was built 
by his father, William Carleton, who occupied it until his 
decease, Tuesday, December 5, 1876. We have before 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 427 

referred to him as a resident of Harvard Street and the 
founder of Carleton College. 

The house on the corner of the square and Tremont 
Street was erected by a native of Charlestown, Sampson 
Stoddard Blanchard, for many years cashier of the 
Hamilton Bank, Boston, and a brother of Mrs. Richard 
Frothingham. They were children of Deacon Isaac 
Blanchard, of the Unitarian Church, who was for many 
years town treasurer. Mr. S. S. Blanchard lived in the 
house until his death. 

July 2, 1898. 



428 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXIX 

Monument Square ("continued) 

A House on Rollers — Abram E. Cutter — The McKims — The 
Book-Store. 

IN the account given, in Chapter LXV., of the life of 
Mr. John Wade Damon, with a short description of 
his residence on High Street, I omitted reference to 
a rather remarkable removal of the house while he was 
living in it, to which I will now refer. 

The house adjoining the Damon estate was built by 
George A. Whiting, in the early part of the 'sixties. At 
that time Mr. Whiting was a partner with Francis B. 
Austin in the wholesale metal-business, in the city 
proper. Mr. Damon was displeased with the building 
towering above his own, and discussion with Mr. Whiting 
seemed only to widen the disagreement between them. 
Out of this feeling, without doubt, grew the determina- 
tion of Mr. Damon to disconnect the walls of the two 
buildings. At any rate the decision to do this was 
made, and at a large expense the Damon building was 
removed about six inches from its original position, to 
where it now stands. It was a good deal of an under- 
taking, but Mr. Damon was the man to accomplish 
it. We wonder of what advantage it was to him, but, 
remembering the peculiarities of the man, we think 
we can understand his own remark about it — that it 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 429 

was pleasing to him to show his friends, who had told 
him it would be impossible, that it was but a small affair, 
after all. When passing along High Street, by the two 
houses, a copper strip can now be seen between them ; 
and behind this is the space which tells of the wisdom, 
or folly, of a man of strong will and determination. 

The fine house adjoining the Whiting house, on the 
other side, was the residence of the late Abram E. 
Cutter. It was built by him in 1869, was his home 
until his death on May 15, 1900, and was until recently 
occupied by his wife. 

Mr. Cutter was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
but the family had removed from there to Saco, Maine. 
From there he came to Charlestown to establish, with 
the late William W. McKim, under the firm name of 
McKim & Cutter, the book-store at 21 Main Street. 
Mr. McKim was a Charlestown boy, a brother of Judge 
John W. McKim, of the Suffolk Probate Court — sons 
of John McKim, an officer in the United States Marine 
Corps, residing in the Navy Yard. Governor Alexander 
H. Rice married their sister, Augusta, a remarkable 
woman who in early life is remembered by the writer as 
one of the brightest, most popular, and most interesting 
scholars in Mrs. Burrill's dancing-school, mentioned 
particularly in one of these articles. William W. McKim 
was a popular man and occupied an important position in 
the Civil War. The book-business has been continued 
ever since in the same store and is now conducted by 
Mr. Fred M. Reed. 

Mr. Cutter was a most estimable citizen, — an intel- 
ligent man of high character and fine taste. The library 
which can still be seen in his house bears witness to this. 






430 OLD CHAR LEST OWN 

and should be preserved as the successful work of a 
lover of things of beauty, a preserver of fine thought 
and sound sentiment. He was also a most useful man 
in the community. Before the city was united to Boston 
he had served many years on the school committee, and 
after annexation he was continued on the same board for 
even a longer time. His connection with the Winchester 
Home was continuous from the time of its establishment 
until his death, and the annual reports for many years 
bear his signature as secretary. Rarely are institutions 
favored with such devoted, unselfish, gratuitous service 
and friendship as he gave it. While he was absent from 
the city with his wife in making several journeys to 
Europe, he was always greatly missed, and on his return 
no one could be welcomed more heartily. The shadow 
cast over the community by his death was deep and real, 
the sincere expression of grief and loss. In the Harvard 
Church he was always a pillar of strength and encourage- 
ment, and in the Unitarian Association and denomination 
his memory is fragrant with usefulness, cheerfulness, and 
popularity. 

February 22, 1902. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 431 



LXX 

The Hunnewell Estate 

James Hunnewell — James F. Hunnewell — The Old Indian 
Chief Tavern Removed to make a Site for the Harvard 
Unitarian Church. 

THE Hunnewells in Chariest own were descendants 
in a regular line from Charles Hunnewell, who was 
in the town as early as 1698. They were generally 
successful men as farmers, mechanics, and business men, 
occupying from time to time positions of importance in 
church and town government. James, the youngest but 
one of seven children of William Hunnewell, whose wife 
was Sarah Frothingham, — they being thus connected 
with another prominent family, — was a man of courage 
and enterprise, as is clearly shown by the story of his 
life, written by his son, James Frothingham Hunnewell, 
our present highly respected citizen. His voyage in 
early life to the Sandwich Islands in the little missionary- 
packet, in 1826, a journal of which is in print ; his long 
stay and successful business there ; and his ventures 
and operations after his return, about 1830, with his 
interest in public affairs, fully confirm the filial and 
grateful estimate and memorial of the son, and leave no 
doubt of the correctness of the statement we have made. 
Soon after his return he selected for a residence the 
house on Green Street, and purchased it in 1831 of 
Amos Binney, its owner at the time. The land on 
which it stood was for a long time a part of the estate 



432 OLD CHAR LEST OWN 

of William Wood, which extended from High Street to 
Main Street and was bounded by Green Lane on the 
south and by what is now Wood Street on the north. 
The old Indian Chief Tavern stood on what is now the 
site of the Unitarian Church. Mr. Wood sold the whole 
estate to Oliver Holden, who sold that portion of it to 
the Second Congregational (Unitarian) Society. 

The Hunnewell lot passed several conveyances, and 
was sold in 1817 to Joseph Thompson, who built the 
Hunnewell house. He did not occupy it long. Among 
its several occupants from that time, until 183 1, Com- 
modore Perry of naval fame may be mentioned. The 
writer remembers it as the well-car ed-f or residence of 
John Winship, who for some years conducted on an 
extensive scale the manufacture of soap and candles in 
the old Hyde factory in Winthrop Street. The place 
was originally built and laid out for a handsome and 
attractive residence, and this character has always been 
kept up. Many changes and improvements were made 
by Mr. Hunnewell, senior, as well as by its present 
occupant, the most important of which is, perhaps, the 
addition of the fine library-room which now contains a 
portion of the valuable collection of rare books, the 
work of the life-time, almost, of Mr. James F. Hun- 
newell, and which is fully worthy of the pride and enjoy, 
ment which its possession gives him. 

Mr. Hunnewell has spent much time in oft-repeated .. 
visits to Europe, and has written several volumes of 
recollection and description of what he has seen. **The j 
Lands of Scott " and " Historical Monuments of France " 
are volumes of much value, occupying a worthy place in 
all libraries, while they testify to great interest and care- 
ful, persistent study of the subjects of which they treat. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 433 

Mr. Hunnewell has been perhaps the most careful and 
painstaking investigator of historical matters in the early 
days of Charlestown, and has collected and printed many 
interesting facts as to town and church affairs. A 
list of these publications can be found in his volume 
entitled "The Bibliography of Charlestown." He has 
put on record, and in available shape, enough of the life 
and movement of old Charlestown, its institutions and 
families, to insure its prominence in town history and to 
warrant and gratify the pride of its residents of the 
present day. 

To make room for the church, the old Indian Chief 
Tavern building was moved to the corner of Main and 
Miller streets, where it still stands. It was used as a 
public house for many years afterwards, under the name 
of Eagle Hotel, and, like the hostelries or taverns of its 
day, was a news-room for town gossip, the scene of many 
political, miUtary, and social occasions, and, it is to be 
feared, in some measure the resort of card-players within 
closed doors, while the toddy-stick in summer was seldom 
idle and the flip-iron in winter was always ready on the 
hearth. 

But in the locality of its old site a day for change had 
come. The old tavern on the side of the hill between 
Green and Wood lanes, with its surroundings, was gone, 
and the passer along Main Street looked instead upon 
the new brick (Unitarian) Church, completed in 18 19, 
and upon the new, handsome brick residence fronting 
towards Main Street and running through from the laid- 
out and graded Green Street to the Wood Street of the 
present day. 

March i, 1902. 



434 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXXI 

Monument Square ("concluded) 

Dr. Henry Lyon — John Stowell. 

I HAVE before referred to the building of the house 
on the north side of Monument Square, by Dr. Luther 

V. Bell, and his residence there until the time of his 
death, February ii, 1862; and of its purchase soon 
after by Dr. Henry Lyon, who made it his home until 
his death. May 13, 1900. 

Doctor Lyon was bom December 16, 18 14, in Need- 
ham (Lower Falls), where he spent his boyhood. He 
entered Harvard College and graduated in the class of 
1835. Very soon afterwards he came to Charlestown to 
take up the study of medicine in the school of Dr. 
William J. Walker. He soon became a favorite of his 
instructor, and made many acquaintances which attached 
him to social life in Charlestown ; and this without doubt, 
after the completion of his studies, induced him to com- 
mence the practice of his profession in this locality. He 
had made an impression upon the community favorable 
to success, and soon had a profitable practice as the 
advisor of many families and friends. He continued his 
practice here until 1850, when his decision to give it up 
was the cause of much regret and sorrow to his patients, 
who had learned to confide in his judgment and skill. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 435 

He married the youngest daughter of Dr. Abram R. 
Thompson, a sister to the wife of the popular Dr. J. 
Stearns Hurd, and his relations with the medical 
fraternity generally were of the pleasantest kind. Some 
years after the death of his first wife and of Doctor 
Hurd, Mrs. Hurd became his second wife. 

Doctor Lyon was indebted for his opportunities of 
education, his college course especially, to his uncle, 
John Wade Damon, of whom we have elsewhere spoken 
as a man of wealth doing business in Havana, Cuba ; and 
he had much to do, even while practising his profession, 
in looking after Mr. Damon's affairs in Boston, and in 
making frequent visits to Havana. This doubtless led 
him to the decision to give up his profession to enter 
into a business akin to that of his uncle, which would 
require his whole time. 

In 185 1 he formed a copartnership with Addison Gage 
and Timothy T. Sawyer, purchasing the interest of Jacob 
Hittinger in a then existing copartnership, and continued 
in this business until 1859, when the copartnership was 
dissolved. 

Doctor Lyon was a man of fine education ; unpreten- 
tious, and highly esteemed as a citizen, neighbor, and 
friend. He was a thoughtful but not an ambitious man. 
His mind was not easily unbalanced by first reports or 
sensational statements of success or failure in any direc- 
tion, and he chose to run along in a quiet, comfortable 
way rather than to trust himself to the current of popular 
activity and excitement. He was a cheerful and ready 
giver in every good cause, but he preferred to be a 
follower rather than a leader, to encourage rather than 
direct. 



436 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

He was a constant attendant at the Harvard Unitarian 
Church and was always deeply interested in its welfare. 
He represented Charlestown in the Legislature in 1881, 
and was a member of the Charlestown School Board for 
several terms, serving as its president for one year. At 
the time of his death he was one of the vice-presidents 
of the Warren Institution for Savings, having held the 
office for twenty years. He was elected as one of the 
Board of Trustees in 1863. 

Doctor Lyon's home was a noted place for its hos- 
pitality, and the friends of the family were numerous. 
He had entertained many distinguished guests, especially 
among naval officers, with whom his acquaintance was ex- 
tensive. Three of his daughters were the wives of naval 
officers — Elizabeth, of Captain Thomas L. Swan ; Mar- 
garet, of Captain Oliver A. Batcheller; and Sallie, of 
Paymaster Frank H. Swan. His son is Captain Henry 
W. Lyon, now in command of the battleship Olympia, 
of the North Atlantic Squadron. His other daughter 
was the wife of Dr. Edward J. Forster, whose sudden 
death was such a shock and grief to his host of friends 
in Charlestown, his native town. 

During the Civil War Doctor Lyon made a voyage to 
Cuba as confidential secretary to his brother-in-law, 
Admiral James Alden, with General W. T. Sherman on 
board. The latter, on his visit to Boston, testified his 
esteem for his shipmate and friend by a call at Doctor 
Lyon's house, which occasion, the writer remembers, was 
made an unusually enjoyable one for many friends. 

The doctor lived to be an aged man — eighty-six 
years ; but he kept up his cheerfulness to the end, which 
came in a manner such as, we think, he would have 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 437 

desired — going to sleep in his bed at night after being 
about, as usual, during the day, never to awaken in this 
world. 

Another resident of Monument Square, of marked 
character, was Mr. John Stowell, who died at his beautiful 
summer residence at Pigeon Cove, Cape Ann, August 26, 
1899. Mr. Stowell was born in Boston, February 7, 
1822. He came to Chariest own when a child and 
remained here the rest of his life. His school-days were 
passed here, and his early business career was commenced 
with Samuel Kidder & Co., in the Washington Hall 
building. No. 46 Main Street, which is now held by his 
heirs who continue the business in which for a life-time 
he was engaged on that spot. Mr. Stowell was a very 
intelligent and ingenious man, of much inventive thought 
and mechanical ability, and, besides the successful man- 
agement of his regular business, he found time in his 
little workshops at the store and at his residence to work 
out many intricate problems and produce many valuable 
models, some of which were the bases for what have 
become very useful appliances in the progressive move- 
ment of the present age. Many things for his own 
amusement and use were also produced, among them a 
telescope of fine finish and power, made wholly by his 
own hands. He aimed at perfection in what he under- 
took ; even the smallest matter in mechanical art must 
be complete and finished, for his use. 

Mr. Stowell was a good friend, but he must have 
confidence in one's sincerity, for he had no patience 
with sham in any form. He was an honest man to him- 
self and in his deahngs with his fellow-men ; a man of 
benevolent impulses, who did much to aid others ; — but 



438 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

in this respect he acted upon the rule that it is best for 
the right hand not to know what the left is doing. 

Mr. Stowell's wife was Elizabeth Moult on, who for 
some time previous to her marriage had been the highly 
prized assistant teacher in the Winthrop Grammar School 
in Charlestown. Her sisters were very successful 
teachers in public schools in Boston. Reference has 
been made before to the early death of their only 
brother while a pupil of the Winthrop School, — a 
precocious youth, he and Starr King being often pointed 
out by their teacher, Joshua Bates, as boys of wonderful 
promise. 

March 8, 1902. 



I 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 439 



LXXII 

Beautiful Gardens 

Samuel R. Johnson — Joseph Newell — The Townspeople 
Enjoyed the Cultivation of Fruits and Flowers. 



THE estate of Samuel R. Johnson was on Main 
Street, at the corner of what is now Johnson 
Avenue. The house was an oblong square, front- 
ing on a garden, like most of the residential houses of 
its day all along Main Street. 

The whole place is changed now, the land being 
covered with buildings fronting on the street with stores 
under them. Special attention is called to this estate 
on account of the garden, which was one of the best 
and best-cared-for in the town. Fruit and flowers, 
under the careful cultivation and training of Mr. Johnson 
and his wife, grew here luxuriantly, and outside of the 
town, as well as in it, the garden was referred to as a 
place of interest and beauty. Some of the pear-trees 
are still standing in the yards of several of the present 
tenements in the rear, and can be seen by looking over 
the fences on Johnson Avenue. 

Before the Tremont House in Boston was demolished 
to make room for the present Tremont Building, and 
just previous to its closing, a banquet was held there 
especially to recall what took place at the opening of the 



440 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

hotel when it was built. The menu or bill-of-fare used 
on that occasion had been preserved and was shown to 
the company assembled. At its foot was this note : 
" The fruit used to-night is from the gardens of Nathan 
Bridge and Samuel R. Johnson, of Charlestown." This 
is an indication of their standing among the noted 
gardens of the day. They surely were up to date in the 
cultivation of the most beautiful flowers and desirable 
fruits of their time. 

The writer remembers another small garden in the 
rear of an estate on Main Street, belonging to Joseph 
Newell, — the brick house now standing on the southerly 
corner of Main Street and Union Court. In the small 
area at the rear of that house could be seen espalier 
peach and pear trees and trellised grape-vines, which 
were tended with the greatest care and cultivated and 
pruned in the most skillful manner, the result of the 
pleasant occupation of Mr. Newell before and after the 
business hours of the day. 

These gardens, it is true, were not common examples 
of the condition of the vacant land around and in the 
rear of Charlestown's houses, but nevertheless the 
cultivation of flowers and fruits, especially grapes, was 
very general all over the town. In that day it was not 
in the thought of the thrifty dwellers on the peninsula 
to erect some sort of cheap shanty on any surplus land 
about their residences for any purpose that would bring 
in an uncertain rent ; — the profit they looked for was 
pleasant occupation and interesting study in odd hours, 
in the care of their little gardens and in watching the 
growth of plants. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 441 

Mr. Samuel R. Johnson's business was that of stone- 
cutting, and it brought him into contact with the prom- 
inent builders of his day. His wife was the daughter of 
one of these, Josiah Bemis, a Charlestown resident who, 
with Mr. Stearns, of Watertown, had built many of the 
public buildings of that time. Later in his life Mr. Johnson 
was superintendent of the works of the Granite Railway 
Company, in Quincy, succeeding Mr. Gridley Bryant, a 
man famed for his intelligence, ingenuity, and persever- 
ance, an expert in large building operations. He was 
the father of Gridley Bryant, the noted architect of 
Boston whose youth was passed largely in the office of 
Alexander Parris, the United States architect in the 
Charlestown Navy Yard, the recollection of which fact, 
as he many times told the writer, was a source of real 
enjoyment to him. 

Samuel R. Johnson, the civil-engineer referred to in 
another article as one of the students in Samuel N. 
Felton's office and engineer at one time of the Old 
Colony Railroad, was the son of the Johnson whose 
residence and garden we have attempted to describe. 
He also lived in Charlestown for some years after his 
father's death, and made the changes in the estate that 
we have referred to, interest in the garden having died 
out with the heads of the family. 

A little way south of the Johnson estate, on Main 
Street, opposite to Wood Street, can still be seen the 
entrance to " Lynde's yard," where Nathan Lynde, like 
the Frothinghams farther up the street, carried on an 
extensive and successful business in the manufacture of 
carriages of every description. The premises extended 



442 OLD CHARLESTO WN 

around from Main Street to Austin Street, and were 
covered with shops properly fitted up for every branch 
of the trade. Mr. Lynde was a self-reliant and very 
enterprising man, whose business here afforded employ- 
ment for many years to a large number of mechanics, 
apprentices, and journeymen, who as a rule vied with 
each other in the quality of their work, and shared with 
their employer pleasure and pride in the good name and 
reputation of the establishment and its product. 

March 15, 1902. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 443 



LXXIII 

High Street Residences 

Benjamin Whipple — Paul Willard — Calvin C. Sampson — 
John Boyle O'Reilly. 

THE double house standing back from the street 
on the lot of land that makes the corner of High 
and School streets was built about 1808 by 
Samuel G. Sargent and John Hills as residences for 
themselves. They purchased the land of Oliver Holden, 
divided it, laid out little gardens around the houses, and 
built two small stables in the rear, doubtless to shelter a 
horse and a cow, which it was the pride of families of 
that day to number among their possessions. In the 
original plan of the houses they were connected by a 
doorway in the upper story, and as neighbors and friends 
they seem to have had no fear at that date of too great 
intimacy. The writer remembers listening to a lady 
friend who told him that, when a child, soon after these 
houses were built, she was taken with the other scholars 
in Miss Hill's school, kept in the little building on 
School Street, just off High Street, to visit, by permission 
of the owners, these newly erected and wonderful houses, 
the visit, as she said, a reward to the scholars for an 
afternoon's specially good behavior. 

We are unable to state how long the builders of the 



444 OLD CHARLESTO WN 

houses lived in them ; but, we think, it was not many 
years before reverses occasioned a sale. Nor can we 
say who occupied them afterwards, until about 1830, 
when they were purchased, the side nearest to School 
Street by Captain Benjamin Whipple, the other by Paul 
Willard. 

Captain Whipple was a prominent man in public life, 
serving several terms in the Legislature, and in almost 
every capacity in the town government, — at one time 
being the head of the fire department and for some 
years a popular commander of the old Charlestown 
Light Infantry. In his earlier life he was, as we have 
mentioned in another place, a partner with Edward 
Adams (Whipple & Adams), cordage-manufacturers, at 
Morton's Point. For some years before he left Charles- 
town he was an inspector in the Boston Custom House. 

Paul Willard, a graduate of Harvard, class of 18 17, 
was a lawyer who came here from Lancaster, Massachu- 
setts. He was always much interested in politics and 
was at one time Clerk of the Senate of Massachusetts. 
He always kept up the practice of law, but, for a while 
after the establishment of the old Charlestown Bank, he 
filled the office of cashier, and he was in the Board of 
Aldermen in 1847. 

His son, Paul (junior), on the occasion of the first 
celebration after the town became a city, was the poet 
when Starr King was the orator, and he was also a 
member of the Legislature in 1858. The elder daughter 
of Mr. Willard, senior, was the wife of Arthur W. Austin ; 
and the younger, of the late James E. Greenleaf, whose 
widow still lives in the house on the corner of Green 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 445 

and High streets, their home for many years. Miss 
Greenleaf, the artist, and her sister are with their 
mother. 

The son, the late Robert E. Greenleaf, was a graduate 
of Harvard College in 1877, and for two years was 
assistant professor at the Botanical Garden in Cambridge. 
Then he took up the study of medicine, and at the time 
of his early death, March 7, 1900, was fast growing into 
prominence in the medical profession in the city of 
Boston. 

Captain Whipple sold his estate to Calvin C. Sampson, 
in 1847, ^^^ some years later the Willard house was 
sold to Charles R. Gassett, and by him to John Boyle 
O'Reilly. The Sampsons resided here for forty-one 
years, until 1889, when they also sold their estate to 
John Boyle O'Reilly, whose heirs are now the owners of 
both houses. 

Mr. C. C. Sampson was extensively engaged in the 
furniture-business in Boston and New Orleans, and was 
always a successful man. He was born in Marshfield, 
Massachusetts, in 18 12, and died, in the same house in 
which he was born, while on a visit there in August, 1868. 
Both Mr. Sampson and his wife were descendants in a 
direct line from the Pilgrims. Mrs. Sampson's ancestor 
was John Alden, who came over in the Mayflower on her 
first voyage ; and Henry Sampson, who came on her 
second voyage, was the ancestor in a direct line of Mr. 
Calvin C. Sampson. 

Mr. Sampson's business was such as to require his 
absence from Charlestown during a portion of the year, 
but he was always interested in the town's welfare, and, 



446 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

with his family, as far as possible, joined heartily in its 
affairs. The Harvard Church was their religious home, 
and the family were always represented there by a well- 
filled pew. Mr. Sampson was especially interested in 
education, and was very desirious that his children should 
have all the advantages of proper training and instruc- 
tion. Two of his five boys were graduates of Harvard ; 
another, of Amherst College ; and one, of the Institute 
of Technology. 

Mr. Sampson served on the school committee of 
Charlestown for several years. He favored the estab- 
lishment of a public library and was among the earliest 
and most liberal of the contributors to the fund required 
by the city to secure an appropriation for the current 
expenses of such an institution. He was a friend to 
the Old Ladies' Home, and his name and that of his 
wife appear among its earliest life-members. Indeed, 
his response to appeals for the benefit of all good causes 
was uniformly ready and cheering. He was on the 
board of directors of the Bunker Hill Bank for several 
years, until the Civil War, which so jeopardized his large 
property in New Orleans that all his time, thought, and 
energy were requisite for its protection ; and although 
he was comparatively successful in its preservation itj 
wore upon his health and doubtless shortened his life. 

John Boyle O'Reilly's life-story and fame as a poet] 
are so well known and have been so fully made matters 
of record that we hardly dare to do more than simply 
refer to him. The beautiful monument standing in the 
Back Bay Fenway, with the account of its erection by 
his many friends and of the public estimation in which] 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 447 

he was held at the time, will immortalize his name, while 
his more beautiful inspiration as it was given to us by his 
pen will perhaps be more enduring still. 

O'Reilly never occupied either of these houses we 
have described. They were purchased by him for invest- 
ment. But we are glad that he was a resident of Charles- 
town for many years previous to his death, on August 10, 
1890. His wife was a Charlestown girl, sister to James 
S. and John R. Murphy, and his residence was in Win- 
throp Street. He will be remembered here for his 
remarkable personal attractiveness and bearing as well 
as for his genius and ability. 

March 22, 1902. 



448 OLD CHAR LEST OWN 



LXXIV 

High Street Sixty Years Ago 

My Boyhood Home — The Neighbors — Thomas B. Harris — 
The Elm Street News- Room. 

ON the easterly corner of School and High streets 
stood a rather attractive house, the side walls of 
brick, and the front — on High Street, looking 
toward the west — of wood, sheathed, and always bright 
with white paint. On the southern side of the estate 
was a garden of very considerable size, where fruit and 
flowers were cultivated and much enjoyed by the occu- 
pants of the house. 

This was the home of the writer in his childhood and 
youth. It was purchased by his father, William Sawyer, 
of Ichiel Smith, its builder, in 1827, very soon after its 
completion, and here was the home of the family until 
the death of his mother, Susannah Sawyer, in 1885, when 
she was ninety-five years old. His father died May i, 
1830. After his mother's death, the estate was sold to 
the late Francis B. Austin, and the house was taken 
down, its proportions not being such as could be worked 
profitably into an apartment block, covering the whole 
land, which he contemplated erecting. And so it 
turned out that in its whole life-time of fifty-eight 
years this finely located and substantially built residence 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 449 

was occupied by only one family, certainly an unusual 
occurrence. Here, during all that period of time, they 
lived quietly, comfortably, happily ; the good God smiling 
upon them, blessing them with contentment and gratitude, 
and fitting them for the discipline of grief and bereave- 
ment which sooner or later comes to all. Here two of 
my sisters, Mrs. David S. Messinger, of Worcester, 
Massachusetts, and Mrs. Abram P. Prichard, of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, were married, and here my parents 
and two of my sisters died. This old home ! — it is fixed 
in my memory, stamped upon my heart ; and it all 
remains with me as it was, a constant reminder of my 
obligations for its good influence upon my character, a 
constant cause of gratitude to the Giver of all life's 
blessings. 

When the family removed from Thompson Street to 
this new home, the lookout from the garden fence was 
over what was known as the Odin pasture, which extended 
to Elm Street and was bounded by High Street on the 
west and Summer Street on the east, with not a building 
on its lines on either of these streets. But not long 
after this time the pasture was laid out into lots and 
sold. 

The brick house on High Street, now the residence of 
our good friend and fellow-citizen, George W. Berry, was 
built by a nephew of Edward Adams and very soon 
afterwards conveyed to his uncle for his family residence. 
The next house to it, of wood, was erected for Captain 
William Henry, whose home it was for a very long 
period. It was taken down to make room for the apart- 
ment houses erected by Mr. Berry. The corner lot on 
High and Elm streets was purchased by James B. 



450 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Tamplin, and the building now there, in which for so 
long a time was the grocery-store of John P. Currier, 
was put up and occupied for a while by Tamplin. On 
Elm Street, corner of Summer, Edward Nichols made a 
home for his family, and on Summer Street two wooden 
buildings were erected for William Raymond and Captain 
Burnham. 

The whole area of the Odin pasture was thus in a 
short time covered with buildings. With a boy's eyes 
the writer watched the process of their construction, 
from the digging of the cellars to the capping out of the 
chimneys, from the setting of partitions to the last rub- 
bing down of the inside finish, and in memory it all 
comes back to him as if it were but yesterday. Yes ; 
and he can just as easily brush them all away, and in 
memory reinstate the old pasture with the rail-fence 
around it, a playground for children and the scene of 
many foot-ball contests by boys of an older growth on 
Thanksgiving and Fast days and other holidays. The 
outlook from the garden fence could have been extended 
for a long distance over the other side of Elm Street, for 
there were no buildings there, nothing but pasture-land 
where the cows were feeding and the frogs singing. All 
this, however, has been referred to in another paper, and 
it will be best not to stray too far away from the subject 
of the present writing — the home of my boyhood and 
its immediate neighborhood. 

And what a pleasant neighborhood it was at this early 
date, and for years afterwards ! An old-fashioned brick 
house which stood on the site now occupied by the 
residence of the late Thaddeus Richardson was owned 
and occupied by John Johnson. The wooden building 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



451 



still standing on the corner of High and School streets 
had a large garden extending for quite a distance along 
High Street and half-way down towards Main Street, and 
was the homestead-estate of John M. Fiske. Johnson 
and Fiske were prominent men of their time, and with 
their families were our first neighbors. Then the Adams, 
Henry, Whipple, Willard, and Sampson families were 
added. Then the Fiske garden on High Street was 
covered with the wooden block still standing, and Andrew 
K. Hunt, Benjamin Bruce, Charles B. Fessenden, and 
others, were the occupants. Indeed, there was a succes- 
sion of good people and agreeable neighbors on both 
sides of the street during fifty years. 

In 1839, soon after his marriage, the writer purchased 
the Adams house, and lived there until 185 1, when he 
sold it to Francis W. Pearson and moved to his new 
house. No. 46 High Street, which was finished in the 
summer of that year. The Pearsons, before moving in, 
made very considerable alterations and lived here several 
years, and then removed for a while to Baltimore, at 
which time it was conveyed to Thomas B. Harris, a 
worthy representative of one of the oldest of Charlestown 
I families, his ancestors running back to the very beginning 
of the settlement in 1630. Mr. Harris was never married. 
He made his home with his sister, Mrs. John P. Currier, 
all the members of whose family looked up to him with 
the greatest respect and love. He was a public-spirited 
citizen and held many positions of honor and trust before 
and after annexation, until his death, September 27, 
1883, when he was one of the Sinking Fund Commis- 
sioners of the city of Boston. He was in the Legis- 
lature in i870-'72, and was an alderman in both cities. 



452 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

He was a man of unquestioned uprightness of character 
and firmness of judgment, prominent in the affairs of the 
First UniversaHst Society as his father had been before 
him, and was a true son of Charlestown and its institu- 
tions, many of which he remembered by bequests in his 
will. To the church, for its worthy poor, he gave $2000 ; 
to the Public Library, $1000 ; to the Winchester Home, 
$500; to Howard Lodge of Odd Fellows, $500; and to 
Henry Price Lodge of Free Masons, $500. A fine 
portrait of Mr. Harris hangs in Odd Fellows Hall, a 
memorial of trusted friendship and sound character, and 
certainly an excellent personal illustration of the motto 
of the order — Friendship, Love, and Truth. 

This paper ought not to be closed, perhaps, without 
some reference to the small building adjoining the store 
on Elm Street, at times in the past used for an engine- 
house, a primary school-room, and a news-room. The 
news-room, during the 'fifties, was the early evening 
resort of most of the gentlemen residing on the hill, 
and of many others who were willing to climb it for a 
share in the enjoyment of the place. Here the news of 
the day as it had been received by each individual was 
related for the general benefit, and modified, after dis- 
cussion, by the general judgment. Here the latest story 
was listened to and its quality determined by an outburst 
of laughter or an expressive sneer. Here religion and 
politics, science and art, enterprise and business, labor 
and capital, abstinence and intemperance, character and 
reputation, were discussed with the greatest freedom, 
and so satisfactorily settled as in no wise to interfere 
with good appetite or sound slumber. Here candidates 
for office were suggested, their qualifications measured 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 453 

and weighed, and their election hindered or helped to 
suit circumstances. Indeed, the little news-room was a 
kind of power-house to keep everything going properly 
and to regulate the preliminaries of all public action ; a 
place of enjoyment, as all such places of general gossip 
seem to be. 

Many, most, of the members of the association have 
passed away, but there are doubtless some left, who, if 
they happen to see what we have written, will live over 
hours of enjoyable companionship with old friends and 
call back pleasant memories of the little Elm Street 
news-room. 

March 29, 1902. 



454 OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXXV 

Other Residents of High Street and 
Monument Square 

Active Mayors of the City of Charlestown. 

WE have given some account of many of the 
former dwellers along High Street and around 
Monument Square, and of their residences, and 
there are others whose standing in the community was 
marked and should not be forgotten. 

The wooden house on the southerly corner of Elm 
and High streets was built by Benjamin Bell, about 
whom, as a partner with Samuel Kidder & Co. in the 
manufacture of tartaric acid, we said something in a 
former article. This house was his place of residence, 
and the ell of the building was for many years his 
laboratory, admission to which was not allowed, the 
formula used in the preparation of the acid being a 
secret of much value. Mr. Bell was a thrifty, honest 
man, and a good citizen. His wife was a member of the 
First Church, but he was known in the town to be a free 
thinker as to religious subjects and creeds, which at that 
time was looked upon by many of the good church- 
members as a very dangerous and perhaps criminal state 
of mind. Not much but wickedness being expected from 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 455 

unbelievers of that kind, the sign, " No Admittance," 
over the doorway of the laboratory, was proof positive 
that something was wrong there. The writer remem- 
bers an excellent and kind-hearted washerwoman, whose 
presence once a week in his mother's kitchen was always 
a source of pleasure to the children, who on her way 
thither invariably crossed to the opposite side of the 
street as she passed by the Bell house, justifying herself 
with the remark that ''nobody could tell what such a 
person might do to you if he could once get you inside 
his door," 

The Bell house was afterwards purchased by Hawkes 
Lincoln, a son-in-law of Father Webb, of Cordis Street, 
and some of the Lincoln family have resided there ever 
since. Henry H. Edes, a grandson, it will be remem- 
bered, made it his home until his marriage in 1896. 
Since then he has lived in Cambridge, but here he edited 
and put into book-shape Wyman's ''Genealogies," and 
wrote and arranged the chapter on Charlestown, with 
its illustrations of fac-similie maps and pictures, for 
the Memorial History of Boston. To his credit, also, 
must be set down the excellent History of Harvard 
Church, and his very active interest in procuring and 
placing in the church the memorial tablet and bust of 
Rev. Dr. Walker. 

A little way along on High Street — in one of a block 
of three wooden houses built in 1837 and occupied for 
a time by Alfred Skilton, Heman S. Doane, and J. W. 
Mulliken — is now the residence of the family of the 
late Gustavus V. Hall, who filled so successfully for many 
years the position of clerk of the Common Council, and 



456 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

who, as an expert and auctioneer, had much to do with 
the changes and sales of real estate in the town and city. 
With him we must also refer to his gifted and musical 
family, especially Mr. Thomas H. Hall, whose able, 
generous, and willing assistance in innumerable enter- 
tainments and meetings held in response to appeals for 
help, encouragement, and amusement by the churches, 
Sunday-schools, societies, and citizens entitles him fairly 
and fully to pleasant and thankful remembrance. 

The three fine houses on the southerly, or High 
Street, side of Monument Square, between Soley Street 
and Monument Court, were built by James Dana, Francis 
Thompson, and Isaac P. T. Edmands, as places of res- 
idence for themselves. They all were natives of 
Charlestown, the sons of prominent men in an earlier 
generation of Charlestown citizens — Judge Samuel 
Dana, Honorable Charles Thompson, and Barnabas 
Edmands. 

James Dana was born in the Kettell, or Adams, house 
in Chestnut Street, in 1811. His father lived there for 
some years and then removed back to Groton, whence 
he had come to Charlestown. The son, after graduating 
from Harvard, came to Charlestown to establish himself 
in the practice of law. Very soon afterwards he was ten- 
dered the position of commander of the Charlestown Light 
Infantry, which he accepted, and thereupon entered with 
interest into military matters. This was the stepping- 
stone to his advancement to a brigadier-generalship in 
the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and gave him the 
title of General, by which he was ever after addressed 
and spoken of. After many years of practice as an 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 457 

attorney and counselor at law, he gave up his profession 
on account of deafness and entered extensively into the 
business of brick-making. He was also quite an operator 
in real-estate. He was elected mayor of the city in 
1857, and served three years. To him more than to any 
other man the introduction of water was due. He was 
at least in advance of any other in zealous efforts to per- 
fect plans, ascertain the cost, and urge legislative action, 
which resulted in the Mystic system of water works. 

Francis Thompson was a partner with his father and 
Luther Lapham, under the firm title of Thompson & 
Lapham, in the iron and steel business, always a success- 
ful concern. He entered ambitiously into politics and 
held some prominent positions in public life. He was 
an alderman both before and after annexation, a 
member of the Mystic Water Board, and one of the 
Water Commissioners of Boston, and he served one term 
as senator in the Massachusetts Legislature. By his 
marriage with Miss Ruth Stetson Welch he was con- 
nected with the Welch and Stetson families. His 
daughters are the wives of Captain H. G. O. Colby, of 
the United States Navy, and Charles E. Cotting, a 
leading man in the movement and management of real- 
estate in the city proper. Mr. Thompson died suddenly 
at his residence on Monument Square, August 30, 1885. 

The estates of Mr. Warren and Mr. Frothingham, 
the earliest on the list of mayors of the city of Charles- 
town, have been described heretofore. Several other 
mayors were residents of Monument Square. Liverus 
Hull and William H. Kent occupied houses in the block 
erected by a builder by the name of Small at the corner 



458 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

of Concord Street. Indeed, this locality seems to have 
been where possible incumbents for the chief magistracy 
of the city were looked for and found. Phineas J. 
Stone's house was on Concord Street, at its junction 
with the square ; Horace G. Hutchins and Eugene L. 
Norton lived on Chestnut Street, a very little way from 
its entrance, opposite the steps to the Monument 
grounds; and Charles Robinson's residence was on 
Wallace Court. The writer, whose name is on the list 
of mayors, lived at 46 High Street, a few hundred feet 
north of the square ; and not much farther in the oppo- 
site direction, on Jackson Street, Jonathan Stone, the 
last of the mayors, had his domicile. James Adams, 
whose name completes the list, lived on Washington 
Street, corner of Union. 

The adminstrations of Mr. Hutchins and Phineas J. 
Stone covered the period of the Civil War, when atten- 
tion to enlistment and the care of the soldiers took up 
much of the time. Mr. Kent had the substitution of the 
new City Hall for the old Town Hall as his especial charge 
and improvement. Mr. Hull, besides the duties of his 
office as mayor, was busy with the erection of the 
Trinity Methodist Church, of which he was prime mover, 
and of the Winchester Home, of which he was president. 
Mr. Robinson was an efficient mayor while he was laying 
the foundation of his valuable and successful law-practice. 
Mr. Norton was mayor one term after he had made his 
mark as a senator in the Massachusetts Legislature and 
a leader in the Republican Party. To Mr. Jonathan 
Stone, who himself was not in favor of annexation, was 
left the duty of closing up the affairs of the city of 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 459 

Charlestown and of merging them with those of greater 
Boston of which she had become a district.* 

April 12, 1902. 



* The Mayors of Charlestown : 



G. Washington Warren, 1847, '4^' '49' 'S^- 

Richard Frothingham, 1851, '52, '53. 

James Adams, 1854. 

Timothy T. Sawyer, 1855, '56, '57. 

James Dana, 1858, '59, '60. 

Horace G. Hutchins, 1861. 

Phineas J. Stone, 1862, '63, 64. 

Charles Robinson, Jr., 1865, '66. 

Liverus Hull, 1867, '68. 

Eugene L. Norton, 1869. 

William H. Kent, 1870, '71. 

Jonathan Stone, 1872. 



46o OLD CHARLESTOWN 



LXXVI 

Charlestown Neck 

A Busy Part of the Old Town — Before the Days of Rail- 
roads — Archibald Babcock — The Wymans, Hoveys, John- 
sons, Phippses, and Lamsons. 

IN the old days Charlestown Neck was something of a 
business place and many of the residents there were 

among the most thrifty and enterprising citizens of 
the town. Their homes would bear comparison with 
those of any other locality and their families vied with 
the most intelligent and ambitious in the social circles 
of the place. Among these were the Wymans, Hoveys, 
and Johnsons. The Wyman ancestry dates back to 
1642, although they soon located in Woburn, which was 
originally a part of Charlestown. They were afterwards 
scattered around in other towns in Middlesex County 
and elsewhere. Some of them returned to Charlestown, 
and among these the family here referred to. 

Nehemiah Wyman, whose homestead was the house 
and land at the junction of Main and Bunker Hill 
streets, — the lot having since been covered with a brick 
block, — came here, I think, from Medford, Massachu- 
setts. His father, whose Christian name, according 
to Wyman's " Genealogies," was also Nehemiah, lived 
in Waltham, but the son had resided in Bedford and 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 461 

Medford before coming to Charlestown. His sons were 
men of note in the town. Colonel Nehemiah, junior, was 
perhaps most widely known as the popular commander 
of the old Warren Phalanx in its days of eminent pros- 
perity, and William was an able and well-known figure 
of the past. Three of his daughters were the wives of 
Benjamin Adams, Honorable Charles Thompson, and 
Archibald Babcock. Gerald Wyman, a graduate of 
j Harvard College in 1869, a son of William, is one of 
; the leading expert accountants and auditors of to-day 

in Boston. 
I The Hoveys — Solomon and Abijah — came to Charles- 
town from Boxford or Lunenburg, Massachusetts. The 
Solomon Hovey homestead was a fine, large wooden 
building on the north side of Main Street, nearly up to 
Charles Street. Abijah Hovey's house was on the other 
side of the street. His eldest son, Abijah Wyman 
Hovey, a popular young man in the town, married the 
daughter of Archibald Babcock. 

Solomon Hovey was a tall, dignified, fine-looking man. 
Mrs. Hovey's maiden name was Sarah Johnson. The 
personal appearance of all the members of the family 
was noticeable and attractive. The eldest daughter be- 
came the wife of John Doane, junior, in the days of his 
activity and prosperity. I have before referred to him 
as one of the first occupants of the Harvard Row block. 
The other daughters were wives of Putnam Skilton, of 
Union Street, and Richard Saville, of Chelsea. The 
eldest son, Solomon, junior, was for some years of the 
firm of Stover & Hovey, tanners, and afterwards, up to 
the time of the great Boston fire, president of the 



462 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Mechanics Insurance Co., of Boston. James, another 
son, a graduate of Amherst College, was a teacher, for 
many years the popular master of the Phillips School, 
in Boston. Joseph F. was widely known as the head of 
Hovey & Fenno's insurance-agency, in Boston. His 
wife was Elizabeth Frothingham. We have spoken of 
him before, in connection with the Frothingham family. 

Solomon Hovey, senior, was very early a believer in 
the value of the Mystic shore between Chelsea and 
Maiden bridges for business purposes, and from time to 
time was a purchaser of lots of land there, but he lived 
hardly long enough to see even the beginning of its 
development. 

The large brick building No. 465 Main Street, still 
standing, but put to a very different use from that of its 
earlier days, was built by Jotham Johnson and was his 
home for many years, until his death in 1845. His wife 
was Susan Tufts. His son, Charles Barkeley Johnson, 
was a partner in the old firm of E. A. & W. Winchester 
& Co., extensive soap and candle manufacturers and 
packers and dealers in provisions. George, the second 
son, was a grocer and West India goods dealer in the 
stone building on Main Street, and afterwards a lumber- 
merchant at the Neck. Jotham, junior, kept a store 
on Chelsea Street for a long period. Other sons were 
lumber-dealers in town. 

Jotham Johnson was one of the first board of directors 
of the Bunker Hill Bank, elected July 27, 1825, and 
continued to October, 1845, ^^^ ^^ was also one of the 
original proprietors of the Harvard Unitarian Church, 
as was also Nehemiah Wyman, junior. The Hovey s 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 463 

were active and prominent members of the First Church. 
The Wymans, Hoveys, and Johnsons were all dealers in 
cattle and provisions. They carried on an active busi- 
ness on the margin of the Mystic and Charles rivers, in 
the slaughter of neat cattle and sheep for retail dealing 
in summer, and in beef and pork packing for shipment 
in the winter. 

The building up of the business in this locality very 
likely induced Oliver Brown to establish his neatsfoot-oil 
manufactory in the rear of his house near Frothingham 
Avenue, and Benjamin Brown to establish his business 
of cleansing and preparing tripe, and so forth, farther up 
on Main Street ; and perhaps the Tufts tannery, after- 
wards Stover & F[ovey's, on Main Street, was started 
here where green hides could be easily obtained. 
Morocco-dressing was an important industry at the 
Neck, the Meads, James Kimball, and Joseph Phipps 
owning land for this purpose. In the spring of the year 
alewife and shad fishing at the locks of the Middlesex 
Canal was made profitable and helped to keep the cooper- 
shop of Jotham Barry going. Nathan Tufts had made 
a mill-pond by the side of Maiden Bridge, and the mills 
were grinding, slowly perhaps, but surely. Here also 
were Magoun's ship-yard and Absalom Rand's soap- 
manufactory and the headquarters of Studley's hourly 
coaches to and from Boston. The brewery, established 
herein 1821, was active under the ownership and use 
of Elias Phinney and John Kent, although but a small 
affair in comparison with the wide-awake and enterprising 
Van Nostrand management of to-day. Archibald Bab- 
cock's store was a busy place, and there were other stores 



464 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

where a good deal was going on. In Nathaniel Lamson's 
blacksmith-shop the sledge was incessantly swinging, and 
the neighborhood was enlivened by the ring and music 
of the hammers on the anvil. The coming and going 
of the boats over the Middlesex Canal, through the locks, 
to their landing-places near the Old Mills at the foot of 
Mill Street, and the activity in the mills where Hamilton 
Davidson was grinding up corn and Samuel Cutter was 
sawing up mahogany and other timber — these added to 
the activity of the district ; and altogether, as we said at 
the outset, Charlestown Neck was rather a busy place. 

Archibald Babcock came to Charlestown from Mans- 
field, Connecticut, about 181 5. He located at the Neck 
and lived there until his death, August 19, 1862. He 
built a fine residence and store for himself on the main 
road, not far from Alford Street. These buildings were 
purchased by the Middlesex Railroad Company and 
taken down to make room for stables and car-sheds. 
The Elevated Railway Terminal now covers the ground, 
and all traces of the Babcock estate are obliterated. 
Mr. Babcock was an enterprising business man and 
the store referred to was a lively place for many years. 
He was something of an operator in real-estate, and had, 
I think, more or less connection with the old tavern 
which was on the site of the park at Sullivan Square 
and which was the putting-up place of the drivers of 
the baggage-wagons from New Hampshire and Vermont, 
in which the product of the farms of those States was 
brought to Boston before the days of railroads. He 
was a public-spirited man and will be remembered by a 
bequest in his will of ^3000, the income to be expended 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 465 

annually for music or open-air concerts at the Neck for 
the benefit of all the citizens of Charlestown. 

The Phipps family is an old one in the town, and 
much of interest might be written about it. The name 
appears in several instances among the founders and 
original members of the Harvard Church, and Joseph 
Phipps, junior, who lived well up on the south side of 
Main Street, was one of its first deacons. 

Benjamin Phipps, whose residence was in Eden Street 
and his place of business near to it on Main Street, was 
also a constant attendant at that church. His family, 
after his death, April 7, 1878, continued to live in their 
old home until recently, and still keep up their love and 
loyalty to the old church. Mr. Phipps held many offices 
under the old town government, and for the three years 
during which the writer filled the office of mayor he was 
an alderman of the city. It is a pleasure to bear witness 
to his ability and faithfulness. Prudence, good judgment, 
and excellence of spirit were always assured in his action, 
and he commanded the respectful consideration and 
courtesy of his associates by his own uniform remem- 
brance of the value of these qualities. Mr. Phipps was 
the treasurer of the Old Ladies' Home for twelve years. 
His daughters have been interested in many charitable 
and other associations. 

His son, Benjamin Phipps, junior, has been for many 
years a member of the long-established and widely- 
known domestic-goods house of Parker, Wilder & Co., 
Boston. 

The Lamsons, a family of long standing in the town, 
were also residents at the Neck. The wife of the late 



466 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

James Hunnewell was the daughter of Joseph and Susan 
(Frothingham) Lamson. The mother of the late Linus 
Pearson was a daughter of Caleb Lamson. Nathaniel 
Lamson built and lived in the brick house removed a 
short time ago by the Park Department. After giving 
up the shop at the Neck he became an iron-dealer, for a 
while succeeding Thompson & Lapham in their store on 
Main Street. 

April 26, 1902. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 467 



LXXVII 

Adams and Winthrop Streets 

Former Prominent Residents — The Old Training Field School. 



r>^ICHARD FROTHINGHAM'S only son, Thomas 
l^ G. Frothingham, of the mercantile firm of Laforme 
& Frothingham, Boston, purchased the house num- 
bered 2 on Monument Square, built by Amos Brown, 
and lived there from 1868 to 1896, when he removed to 
a house on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, which he 
had just built for his own residence. Richard Frothing- 
ham's eldest daughter was the wife of Admiral Charles 
O'Niel, of the United States Navy, who became distin- 
guished during the Spanish War as the very efficient 
Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. He is now in 
Berlin, sent abroad by special order of the Secretary of 
the Navy to attend a meeting of scientists, and he has 
received the marked attention of the Emperor, compli- 
mentary to the United States. Another daughter of 
Richard Frothingham was the wife of the late Henry C. 
Adams, and afterwards of Dr. George Gill, of Saint 
Louis, Missouri. The third daughter married Dr. George 
McLean, of Springfield, Massachusetts. The youngest, 
who died in 1901, married Mr. Clifford Gill, then of the 
United States Navy. 

The house on Monument Square occupied by George 



468 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

B. Neal at the time of his death, July 7, 1901, was built 
by him. Mr. Neal was a graduate of Harvard College 
in 1846, and came to Charlestown soon after. He was 
then much interested in the study of music and for a 
while gave a very large share of his time to it. After- 
wards he commenced the study of law in the office of 
G. Washington Warren and was admitted to the bar. 
Very soon after this he accepted a position in the office 
of the Charlestown Gas Company, then a new corpora- 
tion just commencing operations for the supply of light 
to Charlestown. This position required so large a share 
of his time that his law practice was very limited. He 
continued in the employ of the Gas Company until by 
promotion he became its treasurer and superintendent 
of its works, and he made it his chief business until his 
death. He was for three years a member of the board 
of aldermen, and for ten years of the school committee. 
He was a prominent member of Saint John's Episcopal 
Church and very active in its affairs and management. 
He was prominent in charitable and other associations, 
as is also his only child. Miss Caro Neal, who still occu- 
pies the homestead on Monument Square. 

Just below here, on the comer of Winthrop Street and 
Wallace Court, is the brick house built by Doctor Ben- 
jamin Tinslar, of the United States Navy, — a resident 
for many years. The house is now the residence of 
Mr. Nathan Tufts. Next to it is the former residence of 
William B. Stearns, president of the Fitchburg Railroad 
Company. Across the street. Honorable George N. 
Swallow, lately of the Governor's Council, and of grow- 
ing political fame, now has his home. 

On the upper or Adams Street side of Winthrop 






i 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 469 

Square was the home of John Curtis, junior, the well- 
known crockeryware-dealer on Washington Street, Bos- 
ton, whose clerk for some time was no less a personage 
than Nelson Miles — to-day General Nelson Miles, the 
head of the United States Regular Army. On Adams 
Street could be seen, almost every day, Commodore James 
Armstrong, of the United States Navy, as, in official dig- 
nity, he went in and out of his home there ; and Admiral 
William Rogers Taylor, domiciled with his brother-in- 
law, Walter Hastings, who in his will remembered 
Harvard College with a large bequest that has since been 
invested in the Hastings Building at Cambridge. The 
Crowningshields lived near, on the corner of Adams and 
Chestnut streets, while over on the corner of Trainingfield 
Street the able and genial son of Commodore Charles 
Morris, Dr. William B. Morris, was established as a 
medical practitioner with a numerous clientage and a 
host of friends who enjoyed his life and sincerely lamented 
his too early death. 

The house now numbered 48 on Winthrop Street 
deserves to be remembered. It was built, I think, about 
1 8 10, by Captain William Thompson, who lived in it for 
some years. After this, the writer remembers the 
Ruthvens and Waterstons, who were people of distinc- 
tion, as living there. They were attendants and mem- 
bers of the Harvard Church, and Rev. Robert C. Water- 
ston is known to fame as a clergyman of its faith. The 
Misses Waterston are remembered as pupils in Mrs. 
Burrill's dancing-school mentioned in Chapter XVH. 
Some time after the removal of the Ruthvens the house 
was occupied by George Pierce, a former long-time res- 
ident of Charlestown, who removed to West Cambridge 



470 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

(Arlington) and was known as a very successful market- 
gardener. Indeed, while occupying this house, with a 
stall under the old Town Hall, he carried on the same 
business here, cultivating a large lot of land which 
adjoined the estate, running along Winthrop Street as 
far as the armory, which is on a part of it ; from there 
to Soley Street, and then all the way up to High Street, 
along that street to Monument Court, and down the 
court to a line running in front of the Thompson estate, 
to Winthrop Street. 

This land was made profitable by cultivation for some 
time longer ; for, after the removal of Mr. Pierce, Jacob 
Hittinger occupied the house, and, for several years, 
with Lemuel Pitts, a son-in-law of Pierce, under the firm 
name, Hittinger & Pitts, made the land useful in their 
business as dealers in fruit and vegetables in Faneuil 
Hall Market. Jacob Hittinger removed from this house 
to the brick house in Bow Street, where he lived several 
years until he purchased and removed to the now famous 
Hittinger Farm in Belmont, which is still the residence 
of his widow and is carried on with all the modern 
improvements by his sons. 

The next house on Winthrop Street, as you approach 
Warren Street, was the residence of Jesse Brown, who, 
with his brother John, under the firm name of J. & J. H. 
Brown, carried on the business of hat-making in a build- 
ing fronting on Soley Street. They had a store in the 
Square where now is No. 1 5 of the Roughan Building, and 
another on Ann (now North) Street, Boston, where they 
dealt largely in furs and hats. Elbridge Brown, eldest 
son of Jesse, succeeded to the business. He was a man 
of fine presence and character, well known as a citizen 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 471 

of Charlestown for many years. He was interested and 
active in the affairs of the Universalist Church. At the 
time of his death, June 27, 1873, ^^ was engaged in 
Norwalk, Connecticut, in the manufacture of hats by a 
patent process of which he was the inventor and owner. 
His brother, Augustus Brown, was a successful dry-goods 
merchant in Boston, of the well-known firm of Brown 
& Dix. 

On the opposite side of the street the brick house 
built by Leonard Tufts for a residence still stands. 
Leonard Tufts was the son of John Tufts, one of the 
original proprietors of Harvard Church. They were 
descendants of the same Peter Tufts, but belonged to 
another branch of the family from the one we have 
described heretofore. Peter Tufts, junior, who made 
surveys and a map of Charlestown in 18 18, was of this 
branch. Leonard Tufts was a blacksmith doing a good 
deal of business in his shop near the Square. His wife 
was Hepzibah Fosdick, and they too were active mem- 
bers of the Harvard Church. Their oldest son is 
William Fuller Tufts, of the late firm of Arkell, Tufts 
& Co., New York ; and another son, whose recent death 
has been so widely noticed, was the late James Walker 
Tufts, the enterprising and successful apothecary, soda- 
fountain manufacturer, and proprietor and owner of 
Pinehurst, the healthful town and popular resort in 
Moore County, the long-leaved pine district of North 
Carolina. Both these boys kept up their interest and 
were loyal to their native place. The elder is now the 
president of the Training Field School Association. 

Here too is the veritable old Training Field and the 
site of the old school-house, from which it was removed 



472 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

to its present location on Common Street, where it has 
been standing since 1847, when, by order of the then 
new City Government it was declared to be the needless 
destroyer of the symmetry of the park and that it had 
been placed there by questionable right. Yes ! here 
stands the old school-house overlooking the* Training 
Field, acquiescing in the propriety of its removal from it, 
looking on approvingly at the Soldiers' Monument placed 
in its center, but frowningly and indignantly at every 
blow of the axe that by the authority of the City 
Council felled the aged and beautiful shade-trees formerly 
so ornamental to it on its Adams Street side. Here 
to-day stands the old brick school-house, with the stars- 
and-stripes floating over it, placed there by the old 
schoolboys. She is very proud of these boys and of the 
faithful teachers who in the long ago taught them to be 
loyal and patriotic. And now Fuller Tufts, the present 
head of the Town Hill and Training Field Schoolboys' 
Association must, during his term of service, lead and 
keep alive and active the delightful and enjoyable interest 
and spirit that for twenty years have characterized that 
organization. And he will do it, you may be sure ! 

June 7, 1902. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 473 



LXXVIII 

History of the Public Library 

-^ 

IN an historical sketch of the Warren Institution for 
Savings, given in The Charlestown Enterprise in 
1894 in connection with an account of the fitting 
up and occupation of the new banking-room, reference 
was made to the fact that, after the erection of the bank- 
building in i859-'6o, the rooms in the upper story were 
occupied by the public library, just then established ; 
and the account adds : " To the Warren Institution for 
Savings and especially to certain trustees was due the 
origin of the Charlestown Public Library." It seems to 
me that a brief history of the library will be read with 
interest, while it will show, among other things, how 
closely connected with the erection of the new banking- 
house was the library's establishment at the time. 

One afternoon, early in the year i860, four of the 
trustees of the Warren Institution for Savings — Nathan 
A. Tufts, Edward Lawrence, Edwin F. Adams, and 
Timothy T. Sawyer — were in the banking-room, then 
under the Bunker Hill Bank, engaged in conversation as 
to what use could be made of the upper rooms of the 
new building, on the corner of Main and Henley streets. 
Mr. Adams had, a little while before, returned from a visit 
to Lenox, in Berkshire County, where he had been shown 
the public library in that town, and after describing it 



474 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

he remarked that there should be an institution of this 
kind in Charlestown and that the upper rooms of the 
bank-building would be a good place to locate it. He 
finished what he had to say with the statement that he 
would subscribe five hundred dollars towards a fund to 
be raised for the purpose. The other gentlemen agreed 
with him as to the need of a library, and each agreed to 
give an equal amount if the City Council would pass an 
ordinance establishing one. 

Here, then, was the sum of two thousand dollars to 
start a movement for a public library. The next step 
was to see Mayor Dana and suggest to him that the time 
had arrived for action on the part of the city on this 
question of much importance to its citizens ; and any one 
of the four gentlemen was fully authorized to pledge the 
two thousand dollars as the beginning of a subscription 
to purchase a library to be given to the city, if its 
Council would take such action as would insure its care 
and support. 

Mayor Dana and the members of the City Council 
met the suggestion with ready interest, and an order was 
prepared and offered by Alderman Joseph Caldwell, at 
the meeting of the board, March 1 2, 1 860, that the com- 
mittee on ordinances report an ordinance establishing a 
public library. This was followed by another order 
making an appropriation of one thousand dollars for the 
foundation and commencement of a public library, and 
of a further sum of one thousand dollars, not to be ex- 
pended until the sum of four thousand dollars in money, 
books, or property should be raised by general subscrip- 
tion for the same purpose. 

On June 5, i860, an ordinance establishing the library 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 475 

was reported and passed by both branches of the City 
Council. This ordinance required that there should be 
chosen, during the month of June in the year i860, and 
annually in the month of January thereafter, by con- 
current vote of the two branches of the City Council, 
one member of the Board of Aldermen, three members 
of the Common Council (one from each ward), and five 
citizens at large, to constitute a board of trustees for the 
public library, who should hold their offices until others 
were chosen in their places, any vacancy in said board 
to be filled by the City Council, the office of trustee to 
be honorary and no member of the board to receive any 
compensation for his services. 

Acting under this authority, the first board of trustees 
was chosen by the City Council, June 9, i860. It was 
composed as follows : Alderman Nathan A. Tufts, Coun- 
cilmen George Stimpson, Jr., Charles Robinson, Jr., and 
Warren Rand ; at large, James Hunnewell, George 
Hyde, Moses A. Dow, Eugene L. Norton, and Timothy 
T. Sawyer. The first meeting of the board was held 
July 5, i860, in the room of the mayor and aldermen. 
It was organized by the choice of Timothy T. Sawyer 
as president and Moses A. Dow as secretary, and a com- 
mittee was appointed to prepare rules and regulations 
for the government of the board. On July 1 1 the 
trustees met again, and, after a full discussion of the 
question how best to proceed with the work in hand, the 
president and Mr. Hyde were appointed to see what 
rooms in the new savings bank building could be hired, 
and also to call a meeting of citizens interested in the 
library, as a preliminary step before calling another 
meeting of the board. 



476 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

A public meeting, arranged by this committee, was 
held in the Common Council Chamber, July i8, i860. 
The ordinance establishing the library was read by the 
chairman, and remarks were made by Alderman Nathan 
A. Tufts, explaining the object of the meeting and 
giving his judgment that the citizens would be greatly 
benefited by such an institution. Councilman C. Rob- 
inson, Jr., emphasized the necessity of raising the 
amount needed by private subscription at once, to secure 
further assistance from the city. A committee of three 
from each ward, to solicit subscriptions, was then 
appointed as follows : Ward i, William Tufts, Duncan 
Bradford, and T. T. Sawyer ; Ward 2, Calvin C. 
Sampson, Oliver C. Everett, and H. K. Frothingham ; 
Ward 3, William Fosdick, George Johnson, and Herbert 
Curtis. 

Edwin F. Adams suggested that a subscription-paper 
be circulated in the meeting, which was done, and $2450 
in money and books was the result. The subscription- 
paper, which had been prepared beforehand, read as 
follows : 

The subscribers hereby agree to contribute in money 
or books, towards the establishment of a public library, 
the sums set against their names, the money to be 
expended in the purchase of books to be kept in some 
suitable place within the present limits of the city of 
Charlestown, and at the expense of said city, and to be 
for the use of all the citizens, under such restrictions as 
may be necessary for the care and preservation of said 
books, and subject to such regulations as maybe deemed 
needful by a board of trustees to be annually chosen by 
the City Council of said Charlestown for the manage- 
ment of said library. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 477 

The next meeting of the board of trustees was on 
November 15, i860, when the president made a report 
in favor of proceeding immediately to carry out the order 
of the City Council establishing a pubUc library. Alder- 
man Tufts moved that a suitable person be found to take 
charge of it, and it was voted to secure and furnish 
proper rooms for the purpose. The board then made a 
visit to the new savings bank building, and after careful 
examination chose a committee — C. Robinson, Jr., and 
George Stimpson — to engage the rooms in the third 
story of that building and procure plans for furnishing 
them. On January 8, 1861, George Hyde, Charles 
Robinson, Jr., and George Stimpson were made a com- 
mittee to visit libraries already in operation, to obtain 
information as to the best plan of starting and conduct- 
ing such an institution, and to report a list of rules and 
regulations suitable for a library in Chariest own. 

The meeting was adjourned to meet again in the 
rooms of the mayor and aldermen January 18, 1 861, to 
hear the report of the committees. On that date a 
report that the rooms in the savings bank had been 
engaged was made and accepted. The committee 
appointed to visit other libraries reported, in writing, the 
result of their investigations. The president reported 
that the contribution from citizens then amounted to 
^4317.50, and he was instructed to inform the City 
Council that the sum required to warrant the expenditure 
of the conditional appropriation of ^1000 had been sub- 
scribed, and to ask if it would be accepted upon the con- 
ditions on which it would be given. At this meeting it 
was voted to fit up the front room in the bank-building 
with book-cases and shelves and otherwise properly 



478 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

furnish it. It was also decided to engage a competent 
person or persons to furnish the trustees with a catalogue 
of books suitable for the library. 

The following is a complete list of the subscribers at 
this time : 

Edwin F. Adams ;^500.oo 

Nathan A. Tufts 500.00 

Edward Lawrence 500.00 

Timothy T. Sawyer 500.00 

Calvin C. Sampson 250.00 

George Hyde 200.00 

William Hurd 200.00 

William Tufts 100.00 

Jacob Foss 100.00 

George A. Kettell 100.00 

Richard Frothingham, ^50 in books and $50 in 

cash 100.00 

Moses A. Dow, in books 100.00 

David M. Balfour, in books 100.00 

James Dana, $50 in books, $50 cash 100.00 

Oliver C. Everett 50.00 

Duncan Bradford, in books 50.00 

Edward Thorndike 50.00 

Zenas C. Rowland 50.00 

Mrs. Louisa Forster 50.00 

James H. Rand, in his bill for plans 50.00 

William W. Wheildon, in books 40.00 

Abbott E. Kittredge 25.00 

William M. Byrnes 25.00 

Moses B. Sewall 25.00 

Daniel Johnson 25.00 

Nathaniel Brown 25.00 ; 

Francis W. Pearson 25 .00 i 

Willard Dalrymple 25.00 



Amount carried forward $3865.00 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 479 

Amount brought forward $3865.00 

Rhodes G. Lockwood 25.00 

John Fosdick 25.00 

Eliab P. Macintire 25.00 

Reuben Hunt 25.00 

Phineas J. Stone 25.00 

George H. Yetton 25.00 

Henry Lyon 25.00 

Nahum Chapin 25 .00 

William W. Pierce 20.00 

James M. Francis 20.00 

John B. Wilson 20.00 

Francis Childs 20.00 

Isaac Osgood, in books 20.00 

Abram E. Cutter, in books 20.00 

Mrs. Mary T. Forster 1 5.00 

George Cutler 15 .00 

Ethan N. Coburn 12.50 

H. G. Waldron 10.00 

Nathaniel G. Hill 10.00 

Timothy Bryant 10.00 

George A. Guild 10.00 

Jonathan Stone 1 0.00 

Isaac Cook 10.00 

Thomas M. Cutter 10.00 

James Clark 10.00 

J. H. Felt 10.00 

Total amount contributed $4317.50 

The first report of the board of trustees to the City 
Council was dated November 15, i860. It closed with 
this remark : " There is every reason to believe that we 
shall be in a condition to start the library and place it 
upon a good footing before the end of the present 
financial year." The second report bore date January 
18, 1 86 1, when the subscriptions, as just recorded, had 



48o OLD CHARLESTOWN 

exceeded the sum required to secure the city appropria- 
tion. It asked the Council to formally accept the 
amount upon the conditions set forth in the subscription- 
paper, gave notice that rooms in the new building had 
been engaged, a competent person employed to make up 
a list of books, and all preliminary arrangements settled, 
and that, when the City Council should take the 
necessary action to secure the money appropriated and 
subscribed, its expenditure would be authorized and the 
library opened. 

The person selected to make up the list of books was 
William F. Poole, the librarian of the Mercantile Library 
Association, who had just been elected librarian of the 
Boston Athenaeum, and who was afterwards the librarian 
of the Cincinnati and Chicago public libraries, and at the 
time of his recently much-lamented death the librarian of 
the Newberry Library in Chicago. 

The board of trustees was changed in 1861 by changes 
in the City Council and by the determination of James 
Hunnewell and Moses A. Dow to decline a re-election. 
The new board was composed as follows : Timothy T. 
Sawyer, president ; Edwin F. Adams, alderman ; Francis 
W. Hurd, Charles Robinson, Jr., and Josiah F. Guild, 
common councilmen ; George Hyde, Eugene L. Norton, 
James F. Hunnewell, and Frank A. Hall, at large. F. 
A. Hall resigned February 28, and in his place Richard 
Frothingham was chosen April 16, 1861. 

The catalogue of books to be purchased for the library 
was made up and completed by Mr. Poole. After ex- 
amination by the trustees it was submitted for inspec- 
tion to Dr. George E. Ellis, Rev. James B. Miles, Rev. 
Abbot A. Kittredge, and other clergymen of the city 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 481 

and to some of the citizens whose judgment in such 
matters was thought to be valuable. But few, if any, 
changes were made in it, and it was accepted as presented 
by Mr. Poole. Its merit and value were afterwards 
shown by repeated applications for its use in the selection 
of books for public libraries in other cities and towns 
and by highly complimentary remarks which have from 
time to time appeared in reference to it. 

The committee on catalogue, appointed February 8, 
1 86 1, consisted of George Hyde, Francis W. Hurd, and 
James F. Hunnewell. Subsequently Richard Frothing- 
ham, Edwin F. Adams, and the president were added. 
Mr. Hyde, as chairman of the committee, assisted by W. 
F. Poole, made the contracts for the books, and at the 
regular meeting September 21, 186 1, he reported all the 
bids received by the committee and the acceptance of 
those made by Crosby & Nichols and Ticknor & Fields, 
from whom the books were purchased. The stationery 
was furnished by A. E. Cutter and the printing by Caleb 
Rand. The authority for making these contracts was 
given by vote of the trustees, June 8, 1861. At the 
same meeting, out of seven applicants for the position of 
librarian, George S. Poole was selected and unanimously 
chosen. Mr. Poole was a brother of William F. Poole, 
whose large experience as a librarian could be availed 
of in the way of advice and assistance to the librarian- 
elect. 

The contract for fitting up the library-room with cases 
and shelves had been made with Amos Brown, the neces- 
sary desks and furniture had been purchased, and 
many donations of books — in all about 1 200 volumes — 
received when the librarian entered upon his duties. 



482 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

The requisite stamps, blank forms, printed rules and 
regulations, temporary catalogues, and so forth, were to 
be provided and preparation for covering the books to be 
made, so that he was kept busy until September, when 
Mr. Hyde reported that a portion of the books contracted 
for were ready for delivery. An appropriation of ^loo 
for reviews and periodicals was then made, and a com- 
mittee — the president and Mr. Hunnewell — appointed 
to select and subscribe for them. 

The delivery of the books and their preparation for 
use made it necessary that assistants to the librarian 
should be appointed, and Miss Jane E. Edwards and 
Miss Helen L. Wise were called into the service. About 
this time, at the suggestion of Mr. Norton, the trustees 
visited the rooms of the Mishawum Literary Association, 
whose library was offered for sale, with a view to its pur- 
chase, but the association afterwards concluded to retain 
it. In October arrangements were made for fitting up 
the large hall for a lecture-room, which was done at an 
expense of ^300. 

On the 15th of November, 1861, the annual report 
was made by the board to the City Council. It referred 
to the startling events that had taken place since the 
last report was made, — the attack on Fort Sumter and 
the opening scenes of the Civil War, — to the fact that, 
in common with the rest of the community, the minds of 
the trustees had been absorbed in these troubles, and 
that, for a while, their interest in the library was lost, so 
that they had questioned the policy of proceeding further 
in its establishment ; but that, after it became evident 
that the work of war and the labor of peace in this 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 483 

section of the country could be carried on together, 
they had gone on with their plans, had hired the rooms 
in the bank-building, fitted them up, elected a librarian, 
purchased books, entered them upon an accession cata- 
logue, and were busy in stamping, labeling, and covering 
them, and that they hoped to complete the work and 
open the library by the ist of January, 1862. To do 
all this work had taken up much time and was no easy 
task, but what had been done would be found, they 
hoped, well done and in a manner that would prove 
satisfactory to the citizens of all classes. The financial 
condition at this time was stated in the report as follows : 

Appropriation by the City towards the estab- 
lishment of the library ;^2000.00 

For its support in 1 86 1 1 200.00 

Amount of subscriptions 4317.50 

Amount received from the Treasurer of the 
old Charlestown Lyceum by order of its 
Directors, it being the balance of the 
funds of that institution 426.00 

Total ^7943.50 

The expenditures and debts to date, November 15, 
1 86 1, were: 

Fitting up and furnishing rooms $ 557.50 

Books purchased 2601.46 

Preparing catalogues, stationery 149-75 

Printing, teaming, etc 1 50.00 

Librarian and assistants, rent 375-00 

Total $383371 



484 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Mr. Poole, the librarian, had entered upon his duties 
with zeal and ability and had been fortunate in the se- 
lection of his assistants. Early and late they labored 
together to get things in order and readiness for the 
promised opening on January i ; but they could not 
quite accomplish their task, and another week was found 
to be necessary to prepare for the delivery of the books 
and for opening the doors to the public. On the 7th of 
January, 1862, with a catalogue of something over 6000 
volumes and a reading-room in which could be found 
most of the valuable periodicals published in the 
country, with several of the most interesting and useful 
foreign newspapers, and with a completed code of simple 
rules to work by, the Charlestown Public Library was 
opened for the free use of all the citizens. 

August 25, 1894. 



The library was closed for the annual examination 
August 16, 1862. In the meantime over 50,000 vol- 
umes had been taken out by borrowers, all of which were 
duly returned but four, and two of these were received 
afterwards. Cards had been issued to 21 14 persons who 
had signed an agreement during the first month promis- 
ing to conform to rules and regulations. At the date of 
the second annual report, November 15, 1862, this 
number had increased to 3519 and the number of books 
delivered to 58,612. With few exceptions the books 
returned were in good order, and the rules requiring 
fines for delay and damage for injury and carelessness 
were cheerfully complied with. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 485 

Five hundred copies of a stereotyped catalogue, a book 
of two hundred pages printed by Caleb Rand, were 
ready for use on the 30th of October, 1862, and for sale 
at twenty-five cents per copy in paper and fifty cents in 
boards. A few presentation copies, handsomely bound, 
were also ready at the same time. This catalogue had 
been prepared by the librarian, George S. Poole, who was 
highly commended by the trustees for his judgment and 
industry in the performance of this duty. The commit- 
tee of the board having direction and charge of publish- 
ing this book, and who prepared the preface, were 
Richard Frothingham, James F. Hunnewell, and Francis 
W. Hurd. 

The library was kept open from 9 till 12 o'clock A. m., 
and from 2 till 5 p. m., and every evening except Tuesday 
and Friday from 7 till 9 o'clock. The reading-room did 
not lack for visitors, nor the periodicals for readers, and 
the hall, after being fitted up, was used for various 
purposes under the following rule : " It may be used for 
lectures and other purposes connected with art and 
literature, but shall not be used for political meetings, 
festivals, fairs, or objects incompatible with the institu- 
tion." The first course of lectures was given by Rev. 
J. C. Fletcher, on "Brazil, Switzerland, and Northern 
Italy." It paid expenses and left a small amount for the 
benefit of the library. The use of the hall very soon 
after its opening was granted to the Soldiers' Relief 
Association, and the meetings of that body of patriotic 
ladies were held here during the war ; and, busy as they 
were in looking after the needs of the men at the front 
and their families at home, they still had time for an 
exhibition of tableaux in the hall for the benefit of the 



486 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



library, and added $53.63 to its treasury. The use of 
the hall was also granted for an entertainment for the 
benefit of soldiers' families, for the Infant School Society, 
and for several musical entertainments of merit. A 
course of readings by Professor Briggs, of Bowdoin 
College, and two more lectures by Rev. J. C. Fletcher, 
increased the funds of the library by $83.25. The sub- 
jects of the lectures were "Two Thousand Miles Up the 
Amazon " and " Brazil Revisited." 

The changes in the board of trustees in 1862 were as 
follows : Alderman Francis Childs took the place of 
Edwin F. Adams, and Councilmen Moses B. Sewall and 
John N. Devereaux succeeded C. Robinson, Jr., and 
Josiah F. Guild. The amount granted for the support 
of the library in 1862 was $2000; and in 1863, $2500, 
and for the latter year Anthony S. Morss and Charles 
F. Smith, of the Common Council, took the places of 
F. W. Hurd and J. N. Devereaux, and, at large, Edwin 
F. Adams succeeded Eugene L. Norton, resigned, in the 
board of trustees. In April, 1863, William Carleton 
made a donation of $100 in new books — 192 volumes. 
On September 16, 1863, the librarian, G. S. Poole, was 
offered an appointment as assistant in the Congressional 
Library in Washington, and tendered his resignation, 
and February i, 1864, John H. Holmes, now the editor 
and one of the proprietors of The Boston Herald^ was 
elected to take his place. 

The work of the library was carried on during the 
intervening time by the regular assistants. Miss Jane E. 
Edwards and Miss Helen L. Wise, aided by William H. 
Poole. In the trustees' report, November 15, 1863, is 
this paragraph : 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 487 

Since our last report a supplement to the catalogue 
has been prepared and printed, and all the business of 
the library has been so systematized and arranged that 
everything works smoothly and satisfactorily. This 
should, in a good measure, be credited to the genius 
and industry of the late librarian, George S. Poole. The 
interest which he always manifested in the success of 
the library, his excellent character and genial manners, 
secured for him the confidence and regard of the trustees 
and made him respected and esteemed by all who came 
in contact with him. Always at his post, always cheerful 
and always ready, he filled his place in a manner which 
it will be difficult for any successor to equal. Holding 
him in this estimation it was with great disappointment 
that we heard of his call to be an assistant in the Library 
of Congress at Washington ; but on his own account we 
could not but be pleased, as it opened for him a wider 
field for the exercise of his skill and ability. He was 
obliged to leave us at short notice, but did not do so 
without many regrets and an honorable determination to 
fulfill all the obligations we might think him under to us, 
before accepting his new appointment. We look forward 
to a life of usefulness and honor for him. 

Mr. Holmes, the new librarian, had filled the office of 
librarian for the Mercantile Library Association of Boston 
and entered upon his duties with experience, tact, and a 
taste for such employment. 

At the time of the annual report, November 15, 1864, 
the yearly circulation of books had increased to 76,951 
volumes, and all but seven volumes had been returned 
when the annual examination took place. The aggregate 
circulation, from the time of the opening of the library, 
had been 210,522 volumes, and the whole number of 
borrowers 5414. Only twelve volumes out of this large 
number were missing. The number of books in the 



488 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



library at this time was 8549. After this date the annual 
circulation decreased, and in 1867 it was only 56,405. 
This was accounted for by the fact that but little was 
done by the citizens to increase the size of the library 
and keep up its supply of new books. In the report of 
the trustees for this year they say : 

So far as the City Council is concerned, we have no 
word of complaint to make. Its promise to provide for 
the support of the library has been faithfully kept in 
generous annual appropriations, and by this means it has 
been enabled to hold its head up among other institutions 
of the kind and maintain its ground there. But it does 
need more encouragement on the part of the citizens, 
and it is somewhat surprising that, since the first general 
subscription, with the exception of a few small amounts, 
nothing has been given or provided for its growth or 
advancement. A foundation has been laid for a creditable 
and necessary institution for a city with thirty thousand 
inhabitants, and it can only be a question of time, we 
think, when the sons and daughters of this good old 
town, who have means, will build upon it. We commend 
it to their attention, examination, and friendship. 

It had now been determined that the library should 
be removed to the new City Hall building, and, in the 
latter part of the year 1868, rooms for the purpose 
were being fitted up. 

In the account of receipts for that year, 1868, is an 
item of ^260.50, the result of a course of lectures in 
Library Hall. To Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis, Rev. Dr. 
Thomas R. Lambert, Rev. James B. Miles, Rev. O. F. 
Safford, Rev. J. E. Rankin, and William W. Wheildon 
the acknowledgements of the trustees were due for 
these interesting and instructive lectures given by them 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 489 

without charge. Some little time ago Doctor Ellis gave 
the manuscript of his lecture to the writer, who prizes 
it highly. 

During this period, from 1862 to 1868, the changes in 
the board of trustees, after those already mentioned, were 
as follows: In 1864, Anthony S. Morss, as an alder- 
man, took the place of Francis Childs, and Councilmen 
J. W. Roberts and Ezra Brown succeeded A. S. Morss 
and Moses B. Sewall. Edwin F. Adams was again on 
the board as an alderman in 1865 and 1866, and Luther 
F. Whitney was elected from the citizens at large in 
1865, *66f and *6y. Councilmen James F. South worth 
and Benjamin F. Brown took the places of I. W. Roberts 
and Ezra Brown in 1865, and in 1866 Councilmen G. 

F. Hurd and Edwin F. Haskell, of T/ie Boston Heraldy 
succeeded B. F. Brown and Charles F. Smith. In i ^6^ 
Alderman Thomas B. Harris and Councilmen Thomas 

G. Frothingham and Joseph H. Cotton were elected and 
took the places of Alderman Adams and Councilmen 
Hurd and Haskell. 

An appeal to the citizens was made, in the report of 
the trustees in i Z6Z^ to help in an effort to collect books, 
pamphlets, and papers referring specially to Charlestown 
and its affairs. But little in this direction had been 
accomplished, and it was thought that an awakened 
public interest might be the means of getting together a 
valuable collection of local historical papers and docu- 
ments. The duty of private subscriptions, contributions, 
and bequests was urged, as it had been many times 
before ; and a new start at the time of the removal was 
suggested as desirable and to be expected. New interest, 
new books, new life, were the needs of the library. 



490 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

The number of volumes in the Hbrary November 1 5, 
1868, was 10,238. Nine hundred and thirty volumes 
had been rebound ; 211 volumes worn out and with- 
drawn ; nine volumes had not been returned by borrow- 
ers and were set down as lost. The total circulation 
had been 455,543 ; the total number of borrowers, 9125. 
The cash statement was as follows : 

Balance November 15, 1867 $1638.48 

City appropriation for the year ending March, 

1869, including $500 for books 3500.00 

Collections at library 77.62 

Net proceeds of course of lectures 260.50 

Total $5476.60 

Eleven pay-rolls sent to city clerk amounting to 392 5 . 1 7 

Balance unexpended $1551.43 

Up to the time of opening the library, January 7, 
1862, the amount of subscriptions had been $4317.50; 
afterwards ninety-nine persons, in subscriptions of $5 
each, contributed $495. Dr. J. W. Bemis gave $30, 
Daniel Williams and Mary Webb $10 each, and sundry 
small subscriptions amounted to $20, making a total of 
$4882.50 at this date. 

In this condition the Charlestown Public Library was 
ready for removal from the rooms in the building of the 
Warren Institution for Savings to the new rooms in the 
City Hall building. 

September i, 1894. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 491 

The rooms in the new City Hall building were in 
readiness for the library early in the year 1869. The 
board of trustees held a meeting there on February 27, 
and again on the 2d of March, when a committee was 
appointed to determine upon a plan for furnishing and 
fitting them up. On the 27th of March the committee, 
with the librarian and the architect of the building, met 
together and decided upon the plan, which was submitted 
to John B. Wilson for examination and an estimate of 
cost, and he was employed to go on and complete the 
work. The alcoves and fittings in the Savings Bank 
building were taken down and removed to City Hall, 
April 28. This was followed by the removal of the 
books May i . The work of arranging and getting them 
ready for delivery was speedily accomplished, and on 
Wednesday, May 19, 1869, the library was opened in 
the rooms appropriated for it in the new City Hall 
building. The dedication of the building, it will be 
remembered, took place on the 15th of June following. 
The address was made by Honorable Richard Frothing- 
ham and the prayer by Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis. 

On the 19th of April, 1869, a donation of books — 
225 volumes — was received from George D. Edmands, 
with a note from which the following extract is copied : 

I have selected these books with a good deal of care 
from a department of reading interesting to a certain 
class of our community. They are written mainly for 
young persons, and will be found, I trust, entertaining, 
instructive, and of good moral tendency. 

After the removal of the library to the City Hall the 
books were counted by a committee of the trustees, with 
the following result : 



492 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Volumes on the shelves lo, 120 

Volumes in hands of binders 276 

Worn out and withdrawn 690 



Total 1 1,086 

The records called for 10,493, and public docu- 
ments 500 io>993 

Excess over record 93 

This difference was accounted for by the supposition 
that some of the public documents received had not been 
entered on the accession catalogue. 

The librarian reported many inquiries at the reading- 
room for the New York daily newspapers, and he was 
authorized to purchase them for a month to test the 
extent of their use. It was found to be enough to 
warrant a subscription for the delivery, during the year, 
of the Evening Posty Times, Tribune, and Herald. The 
trustees had been desirous of obtaining the publications 
of the Smithsonian Institution, of Washington, which 
they succeeded in doing through the influence of the late 
General Nathaniel P. Banks. A full set of all the pub- 
lications, with the exception of the first volume of the 
" Contributions to Knowledge," of which there were no 
copies left, was forwarded to the library by the secretary 
of the institution, Joseph Henry, March 23, 1870. They 
were received and entered upon the catalogue a month 
later. 

The income of the library was increased in 1870 
by $6^6.26, the amount refunded to the city by the , 
County of Middlesex on account of dog-licenses, in 
accordance with Chapter 250, Acts of the Legislature 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 493 

of 1869, and which amount had been carried to the 
credit of the account of the Hbrary. 

The Hbrarian, John H. Holmes, on the 29th of June, 
1870, gave notice that he desired to withdraw from the 
service of the hbrary at the end of the next month, and 
on the 30th of September, 1870, Dr. Cornelius S. Cartee 
was elected to fill the vacancy. 

A communication was received from his honor, William 
H. Kent, the mayor, September 30, 1870, stating that 
the late Otis Clapp had bequeathed to the city for the 
use of the Public Library some 800 volumes ; that they 
had been accepted and received by a special committee 
appointed for the purpose, and that they were now turned 
over to the trustees of the library to make such disposi- 
tion of them as seemed to them proper. The trustees 
by vote directed the librarian to enter them upon the 
catalogue, and to have printed, and pasted in each book, 
a label showing that it was a gift from Mr. Clapp. 

At the meeting of the trustees, December 30, 1871, 
the following communication was read : 

Charlestown, December 2, 1871. 
T. T. Sawyer, Esq., President of the Board of Trustees 
of the Public Library, Charlestown : 
Dear Sir — In accordance with the will of Edwin F. 
Adams, deceased, I herewith inclose check for one 
thousand dollars ($1000) to be used in the purchase of 
books for the library. Your obedient servant, 

Caroline M. Adams, Executrix, 
by H. C. Adams. 

The board instructed the president to acknowledge the 
receipt of the legacy, and to send a communication to 
Mrs. Adams expressive of their appreciation of the great 



494 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

interest always taken by her husband in the Hbrary, and 
of thanks for this liberal bequest. They also voted that 
the president and Mr. Edmands should have full authority 
to invest the amount received in such manner as they 
might judge for the interest of the library, and at a 
subsequent meeting Mr. Frothingham was appointed 
with full power to prepare a proper notice of the gift 
to be pasted in each volume. The $1000 was temporarily 
invested in a note of the city, dated January i, 1872. 

In their report November 15, 1871, the trustees 
say : 

Of the original subscription referred to, two thousand 
dollars came from four persons in equal amounts, and by 
the will of one of these, the late Edwin F. Adams, who 
died August 16, 1871, a legacy of one thousand dollars 
is given to the library to be expended in the purchase of 
books. Mr. Adams was a member of the board of 
trustees for five years and was faithful in the perform- 
ance of his duties. He was a true friend and benefactor 
of the library and should be held in grateful remembrance 
by all who have shared in its advantages. A generous, 
intelligent gentleman who was thoughtful of the wants 
of the community in which he lived, interested and active j 
in everything which tended to promote its interests, care- 
ful of its reputation, and ever aiming for its improve- 
ment, the records of Charlestown should surely tell of 
his excellence and keep his memory green. 

The attention of the City Council was called to the 
fact that full files of The Bunker Hill Aurora from the 
date of its first publication, July 27, 1827, could be pur- 
chased of William W. Wheildon, its editor, and a special 
appropriation was asked for the purpose, as the paper 
probably contained the only record of many important ; 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 495 

matters the preservation of which might be valuable in 
the future. 

In 1872 one thousand copies of the supplement to the 
catalogue were printed by Rand & Avery at an expense 
of $630.70. This volume contained all the supplements 
and all the new books added after 1 868. The report of 
the librarian to the trustees, October, 1872, gave the 
number of the books as follows : 

Volumes in circulating library 1 1,294 

Volumes in reference library 2,450 

Duplicated 720 

Total 14,464 

When the trustees made their annual report to the 
City Council November 15, 1872, the whole number had 
increased to 14,733, and the collection of pamphlets 
to 3500. The reference library had been enlarged by 
the use of a portion of the Edwin F. Adams fund, the 
trustees having decided that all books purchased with 
that fund and bearing the donor's name should be of 
unquestioned and lasting value. 

Special acknowledgment was made to Mrs. Peter 
Hubbell for the gift of a set of twenty-two volumes of 
"The Natural History of New York." 

The Legislature of the State having passed, on the 
26th of February, 1872, "An act for the preservation 
of books and other property belonging to public libraries," 
the librarian was directed to have the act printed in label- 
form and attached to the covers of such volumes as he 
might deem advisable. 

The following note was read at the meeting of the 
trustees, February 28, 1873 : 



496 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

60 Beacon Street, Boston, 

February 27, 1873. 
Miss Charlotte Harris presents to the Charlestown 
Public Library one hundred dollars to be expended for 
the reference library. 

The donation was accepted, and the president was 
instructed to acknowledge its receipt with the grateful 
appreciation of the board for her kindness, and the 
librarian to inscribe her name in all books purchased 
with it. 

By vote of the trustees, the president was authorized 
to collect the note for $1000 against the city, with the 
interest due on the same, and to deposit the amount with 
the city treasurer, to the credit of the Public Library, 
taking a receipt therefor. It was at the same time voted, 
" That the amount so credited be expended for books for 
the Edwin F. Adams Library." 

The City Council, January, 1874, passed an order 
appropriating $250 for the purchase of the files of The 
Bunker Hill Aurora^ provided the trustees of the library 
should appropriate a like amount. This was done, and 
Mr. Wheildon was paid ^500 for the newspaper files and 
a large lot of pamphlets. The newspaper volumes were 
received at once and a portion of the pamphlets. The 
arrangement with Mr. Wheildon was that his whole 
collection of pamphlets should eventually be turned over 
to the library. 

A communication, sent to the City Council December 
26, 1873, requesting the transfer of furniture then in use 
in the mayor and aldermen's room to the library, resulted 
in the passage of the following order : 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



497 



That the book-case and books in the mayor and alder- 
men's room be removed to the PubHc Library rooms and 
made a part of the Public Library of Charlestown, for 
the use of the citizens ; also the mayor's desk, ten alder- 
men's desks, ten hair-cloth chairs, one swivel chair, two 
tables six feet long, one table five feet long, four umbrella- 
stands, one mirror. The furniture hereby transferred 
by this order is not to be removed until the Board of 
Mayor and Aldermen have ceased to use it. 

The City Council also passed an order "That the 
paintings hanging upon the walls of the rooms occupied 
respectively by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and 
Common Council be transferred to the rooms of the 
Public Library." In conformity to this order the por- 
traits of Washington, by James Frothingham, after 
Stuart ; of Jackson, by J. C. Hoit, after Vanderlyn, 
1819 ; and of Webster, by John Pope, are now hanging 
in the reading-room of the library. 

From 1868 to 1873 changes in the board of trustees 
were made as follows: In 1868 Councilmen James 
Adams, Jr., and Samuel R. Brintnall took the places of 
Councilmen T. G. Frothingham and James F. South- 
worth, and Charles F. Daniels, at large, succeeded 
Luther F. Whitney, Councilmen Richard Nason and 
E. R. Sibley were elected in 1869, in place of Council- 
men S. R. Brintnall and Joseph H. Cotton, and their 
places were filled in 1870 by Councilmen Aaron O. 
Buxton and Enos Merrill. George P. Kettell and George 
D. Edmands took the places of James F. Hunnewell and 
Charles E. Daniels in 1869. In 1871 Alderman Caleb 
Rand succeeded Alderman Thomas B. Harris, and 
Councilmen Charles F. Johnson and James W. O'Brien 



498 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

succeeded Councilmen James Adams, Jr., and Enos 
Merrill. In 1872 Alderman Joseph Souther took the 
place of Alderman Caleb Rand, and Councilmen F. A. 
Downer and John R. Cushman succeeded Aaron O. 
Buxton and James W. O'Brien. In 1873 Alderman 
Edward T. Rand succeeded Alderman Joseph Souther, 
and Councilmen John H. Gibbs and Charles Curtis were 
elected in the places of Councilmen Charles F. Johnson 
and John R. Cushman. 

In the organization of the boards, Timothy T. Sawyer 
held the office of president from i860, the date of the 
establishment of the library, till 1874, when it was 
annexed to the Boston Public Library. The office of 
secretary during that period was filled as follows : By 
Moses A. Dow, i860; Francis W. Hurd, 1861 and '62 
Charles F. Smith, 1863 and '64; B. F. Brown, 1865 
G. F. Hurd, 1866; James F. Hunnewell, 1867 and '68 
James Adams, Jr., 1869 and '70; Caleb Rand, 1871 
Charles F. Johnson, 1872; John H. Gibbs, 1873 to 
April 24, 1874. 

George Hyde was a member of the board all the time 
from the establishment of the library until annexation ; 
Richard Frothingham, every year but the first ; James 
F. Hunnewell, eight years ; Edwin F. Adams, five 
years. 

While the bill for the annexation of Charlestown to 
Boston was under consideration in the Legislature, an 
important omission was noticed in the section having 
special reference to the Charlestown Public Library ; and 
the following amendment to correct this defect was 
prepared by the librarian and the president : 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 499 

The Charlestown Public Library, with all the books 
and documents which now or hereafter may belong 
thereto, shall be continued and kept within the present 
limits of said Charlestown ; and it shall have the benefit 
of all gifts and legacies made heretofore or hereafter in 
its behalf. 

The trustees of the Charlestown Public Library shall 
hold their offices until the first Monday of May, 1874, 
or until the annual organization of the board of trustees 
of the Boston Public Library in that year. 



This was submitted to the city solicitor, William S. 
Stearns, for his approval as to form, and was then put 
into the hands of Honorable Edward Lawrence, a 
member of the senate at that time, and by his influence 
and effort was carried through the Legislature and 
became a part of the enacted bill authorizing the annex- 
ation of the two cities. 

This was fortunate, for, at a meeting with the librarian 
of the Boston Public Library (Mr. Winsor), held at his 
request shortly afterwards, he explained what he proposed 
to do with the Charlestown library as soon as possible 
after annexation should go into effect. His plan was to 
remove the reference library at once to Boston and leave 
only a branch for the circulation of books in Charles- 
town, similar to the branches in other districts. . He 
expressed surprise when told that this could not be done 
under the act of annexation as it had passed the Legis- 
lature, and greater surprise when on reference to the act 
he found in it the amendment referred to. But it was 
there, and the reason for it was explained to him as a 
necessity, if the faith of the city of Charlestown was to 
be kept in its agreement with its citizens, who had sub- 



500 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

scribed towards the original establishment of the library. 
It is enough to add in this connection that his plan was 
changed, and that thereafter the amendment was not lost 
sight of by the librarian or trustees of the Boston Public 
Library. 

Soon after the interview with Mr. Winsor he made a 
visit to Charlestown, accompanied by the president and 
another member of the board of trustees. They looked 
carefully over the library, and everything connected 
with its management was fully explained to them. A 
pleasant discussion then took place as to its transfer, the 
result of which is shown in the following correspond- 
ence. 

Public Library, Charlestown, 

November, 15, 1873. 

Dear Sir — The act uniting Charlestown with Boston 
provides that " the Charlestown Public Library, with all 
the books and documents which now or hereafter may 
belong thereto, shall be continued and kept within the 
present limits of said Charlestown ; and it shall have the 
benefit of all gifts and legacies made heretofore or here- 
after in its behalf," the reason for which we fully 
explained to you on your visit to our library some little 
time since. It also provides for the continuance of the 
board of trustees until the first Monday of May next, 
the time when a new board of trustees for your library 
will be organized. 

In regard to the provision first named, we are glad to 
find that it conflicts in no way with your poHcy in rela- 
tion to all your branches ; as we understand you to be 
desirous that they should be made, as much as possible, 
matters of local pride ; and, as respects the other pro- 
vision, we see no reason why, practically, the manage- 
ment of our library cannot be in your hands after the 
first Monday in January ; and our librarian is already 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 501 

instructed to make arrangements with your superintend- 
ent to this effect. 

We send you this communication that you may fully 
understand that it is our desire to put the library, as far 
as possible, under your control at the time the act 
to unite the two cities takes effect. Respectfully 
yours, etc., Timothy T. Sawyer, 

For the board of Trustees. 
To William W. Greenough, Esq., President of the Board 
of Trustees of the Boston Public Library. 

Boston, 29 November, 1873. 

Dear Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge, on 
behalf of the trustees of the public library, receipt of 
your esteemed favor of the 15th inst., containing certain 
statements and proposals in relation to the administration 
of the Charlestown Public Library. 

At a meeting of the board, held this day, I was 
requested, on their part, to accede to your proposals, and 
to agree to administer the affairs of your library from 
the first Monday in January next, upon the system now 
in use in the other branches of our institution, with the 
exception of such matters of detail as cannot be trans- 
ferred by you until the first Monday of May, 1874, under 
the provisions of the act uniting Boston and Charlestown. 
This we understand to be the desire of your board ; and 
we will endeavor in the meantime, with your assistance, 
to continue the work of preparation, so that, when the 
first Monday of January arrives, your people will have 
not only their accustomed access to their own library, 
but will, also, at the same time, find the doors of the 
Central Library open to them as freely as to all the 
present inhabitants of Boston. 

So far as this board of trustees was concerned, no act 
of the Legislature was required to provide that the 
Charlestown library should have ''the benefit of all gifts 
and legacies made heretofore or hereafter in its behalf." 



502 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

In the establishment of the branches of the library 
already in existence, or to be created hereafter, it is the 
conceded policy of the city of Boston to place in its 
different districts such collections of books, of a popular 
and useful character, as shall possess general interest, 
leaving the purchase of a large class of works of a per- 
manent value, like those upon the shelves of our Bates 
Hall, to the public spirit of the neighborhood to whose 
convenience and instruction each branch ministers. As 
was observed in the recent conference with your board, 
it is our hope that every branch shall be made a subject 
of local pride and shall increase largely by donations 
and bequests. In such cases of benevolence it will be 
equally the duty, as well as the pleasure, of this board 
to endeavor to carry out faithfully the intentions of the 
donors. Indeed, in this manner, the large central library 
has been most signally benefited, to the grateful accept- 
ance of the trustees and to the inestimable advantage of 
our fellow-citizens. While each branch may be thus 
enriched, it will not, in any manner, interfere with the 
progress of the great reference library conveniently and 
naturally placed in the heart of the city. 

That the excellent collection of books, heretofore pro- 
vided and sustained by the intelligence and liberality of 
the citizens of Charlestown, shall continue to increase 
in value and usefulness is the earnest desire of its new 
trustees. I am, dear sir, with much respect, very truly 
yours, W. W. Greenough, 

President Trustees of Public Library. 

To Hon. T. T. Sawyer, President Trustees of Charles- 
town Public Library. 

The annual report November 15, 1873, gave the 
number of volumes catalogued for home use, 12,310; 
reference library, 2810; duplicates not catalogued, 720. 
Total, 15,840 volumes. 



OLD CHARLESTOWN 



S^3 



The trustees say in this report : " The books and 
property of the Hbrary are in a condition in every way 
creditable to the librarian and satisfactory to us ; and we 
take great pleasure in commending Doctor Cartee as 
peculiarly well fitted for his office, and as a man whose 
systematic habits, constant interest in his work, and 
general excellence of character have won for him the 
full confidence of the community." 

The last meeting of the board of trustees of the 
Charlestown Public Library was held April 24, 1874. 
A vote complimentary to the president was passed, 
expressions of friendship and good wishes between the 
members were exchanged, and then a trust, the duties 
of which they had for a long period endeavored faith- 
fully to discharge, was turned over to the care of the 
trustees of the Boston Public Library by an adjourn- 
ment without day. 

The following bequests have been received and ac- 
cepted by the City of Boston, for the benefit of the 
Charlestown Public Library, since its care devolved upon 
the Boston Public Library : 

Charlotte Harris, ** ^10,000, to be invested on inter- 
est, said interest to be applied to the purchase of books 
pubHshed before 1850." Also her own private library 
and the portrait of her grandfather, Richard Devens. 
This bequest was accepted by the city July 31, 1877. 

Edward Lawrence, $500 "to hold and apply the 
income and as much of the principal as they may 
choose to the purchase of special books, to be kept 
and used only at the Charlestown branch of the public 
library." 



504 OLD CHARLESTOWN 

Thomas B. Harris, $1000 "for the benefit of the 
Charlestown PubHc Library." 

The private library of Charlotte Harris, to which 
reference has just been made, consisted of 1082 vol- 
umes of valuable books. 

The whole number of volumes in the library, Decem- 
ber 31, 1893, was 29,961. 

September 15, 1894. 



Index 



Abbotsford Hall, 227, 275. 

Abbott, Samuel, 38. 

Abbott, Samuel & Co., 38, 81. 

Abbott, William, 38. 

Academy, Cordis Street, 44, 45,140. 

Adams, Abel, 374. 

Adams, Benjamin, 182, 265, 461. 

Adams, Caroline M., 493. 

Adams, Charles, 265. 

Adams, Edward, 181, 444, 449. 

Adams, Edwin F., 20, 31, ^3^ 87, 

476, 478, 480, 481, 486, 489, 493, 

496, 498. 
Adams family, 451. 
Adams (Kettell) estate, 1 71-174. 
Adams, Francis, 75. 
Adams, George S., 87. 
Adams, Henry C, 467. 
Adams, James, 72, 80, 277, 399, 419, 

458, 459- 
Adams, James, Jr., 497, 498. 
Adams, John, 80. 
Adams, John, President, 18. 
Adams, John Quincy, 284. 
Adams, Joseph, 260. 
Adams, Nathan, 174. 
Adams, Nathaniel, 183. 
Adams, Dr. Samuel, 217. 
Albee, George B., 196. 
Alden, John, 445. 
Alden, Admiral James, 331, 436. 
Alewife and shad fishing, 463. 
Alexander, Giles, 19, 419. 
Alford, John, 212-214, 300- 



Alger, Rev. William R., 359. 

Allen, S. H., 196. 

Allston, Washington, 122, 301. 

American Colonization Soc'y, 326. 

American Peace Society, 425. 

Ames, Philander, 196. 

Amherst College, 208. 

Ancient and Hon. Artill. Co., 271. 

Andover Theol. Seminary, 298. 

Andrew, Charles F., 252. 

Andrews, Abraham, 44, 223, 406. 

Anti- Masonry, 108. 

Arctic, brig, 43. 

Arkell, Tufts & Co., 471. 

Armstrong, Commodore James, 

469. 
Armstrong, Samuel T., 209, 298. 
Arnold, Deacon William, 83. 
Arnold, William, Jr., 31, 83. 
Atherton, Samuel, 87. 
Austin, Arthur W., 45, 444. 
Austin, Arthur Williams, 223. 
Austin, Benjamin, 216. 
Austin, Eben, estate, 273, 274. 
Austin, Ebenezer, 217. 
Austin farm, the, 224. 
Austin, Francis B., 54, 220, 225, 

428, 448. 
Austin, Henry D., 225. 
Austin, Isaac, 223. 
Austin, James Walker, 226. 
Austin, John, 216. 
Austin, Joseph, 216. 
Austin, name of, 216, 223. 



5o6 



INDEX 



Austin, Nathaniel, 24, 216, 217, 

227, 258, 264. 
Austin, Richard, 216, 217. 
Austin, Samuel, 216. 
Austin, Timothy, 216. 
Austin, William, 217, 220-223, 225, 

263. 
Ayers, Oliver, 268. 

Babb, Joseph, 182. 

Babbitt, William E., 114, 115. 

Babcock, Archibald, 461, 463, 464. 

Babcock, Moses, 158. 

Bailey, Kendall, iii. 

Baker, Mrs. Alice (Bridge), 231. 

Baker, Eben (senior), 231. 

Baker, Ebenezer, 114, 231. 

Baker, Matthew, 231. 

Baker, Richard, 45. 

Baker, Richard, Jr., 45, 87, 421. 

Baldwin, George R., 115, 120, 122. 

Baldwin, Joshua, iii, 266. 

Baldwdn, Colonel Loammi, 113, 

117, 120, 121, 122, 265. 
Balfour, David M,, loi, 478. 
Balfour, Mary D., loi, 
Balfour, Rev. Walter, loi. 
Ball, Thomas, sculptor, 205. 
Ballou, Hosea, 210, 355. 
Bancroft, George, 94. 
Banks, General Nathaniel P., 492. 
Baptist Church, First, 53, 57, 78, 

86, 119, 272, 334. 
Baptist Society, Second, 119. 
Baring Brothers & Co., 282, 284. 
Barker, Captain, 383. 
Barker, Ebenezer, 266, 289, 394. 
Barker, Captain George, 76, 
Barker, Dr. George F., 76. 
Barker, Josiah, 70, 71, 74> 284, 289. 
Barker, Captain Seth, 127. 
Barnard, Adams & Co., 374. 



Barnard, Steams & Gage, 286. 
Barren's farm, 58, 
Bariy, Jotham, 463. 
Barry, Patrick T., 269. 
Barstow, Dr. Gideon F., 207. 
Bartlett, Dr. George, 264, 292, 308. 
Bartlett, Dr. Josiah, 206, 255, 260, 

263, 324. 
Bartol, Rev. Cyrus A., 359. 
Batcheller, Captain Oliver A., 436. 
Bates, Dr. Charles J., U. S. N., 207. 
Bates, Dr. George, 207, 373. 
Bates, John, 105. 
Bates, John D., 21, 
Bates, Joshua (banker), 282-283. 
Bates, Joshua (teacher), 362, 438. 
Bayley, James R., 26. 
Bay State Brick Co., 414. 
Beal, James H., 289. 
Beautiful gardens, 439. 
Beebe, James M., 396. 
Beckford, Capt. Thomas, 120, 174. 
Beecher, Rev. Dr. Lyman, 32, 177. 
Belknap, Rev. Dr. Jeremy, 295. 
Bell, Benjamin, 27y 454- 
Bell, Dr. Luther V., 159, 426, 434. 
Bemis, Dr. J. W., 490. 
Bemis, Josiah, 441. 
Berry, George W., 182, 449. 
Bickford, Dr. Hezekiah C, 144. 
Bigelow, Gorham, 181, 252, 274, 
Binney, Amos, 431. 
Bird, James, 25, 26, 54. 
Bird, James & Co., 26. 
Bird, J. & W., 26. 
Black Horse Tavern, 62, 66. 
Blanchard, Rev. Dr. Henry, 42. 
Blanchard, Isaac, 427. 
Blanchard, S. Stoddard, 80, 427. 
Booth, Kirk, 62. 
Boston & Albany Railroad, 36. 
Boston Herald, 486. 



INDEX 



507 



Boston Iron Company, 319. 

Boston Jotirnal^ 226. 

Boston Merc. Library Asso., 93. 

Boston Mirror^ 108. 

Boston Morning Post, 195. 

Boston Nat. Hist. Soc'y, 208. 

Boston Public Library, 284, 498, 

499-503- 
Bosto7i Recoj'iler, 304. 

Boston Transcript, 343, 387, 388. 

Bow Street, 88, 92. 

Bowen, Francis, 212-214. 

Bowers, Elizabeth, 324. 

Bowman, Dexter, 87, 265. 

Bowman, Zadoc, 87. 

Boyd, Joseph F., 265. 

Boylston house, 305, 307, 308. 

Boylston,*Mrs. Mercy, 307. 

Boylston, Richard, 310, 311. 

Boylston, Thomas, 307, 309, 

Brackett, Josiah, 332. 

Bradbury, Oakes, 375. 

Bradford, Duncan, 476, 478. 

Bradish, Catherine, 158. 

Bradshaw, Eleazer Edes, 210. 

Braman's Baths, 92. 

Brattle Street Church, 242. 

Bray, Major John, 218. 

Breed, Ebenezer, garden, 169, 171, 

^1Z^ 175' 177' 178, 180, 394. 
Breed, Ebenezer, Jr., 176. 
Breed family, the, 177. 
Breed, John, 176, 178, 179. 
Breed, Mary, 176, 180. 
Breed, Richard, 178, 180. 
Breed, Richard F., 176. 
Breed's Hill, 24, 310. 
Breed's Island, 179. 
Breese, Elizabeth Ann, 295. 
Brewer, Gardner, 396. 
Brewster Island, outer, 218, 219. 
Brewster, Osmyn, 209. 



Brick-making, 413. 

Bridge, Abel E., 267. 

Bridge, Alice (Mrs. Baker), 231. 

Bridge family, the, 229. 

Bridge, John, 229, 235. 

Bridge, Matthew, 19, 21, 229, 230, 

231, 232, 263, 272. 
Bridge, Nathan, 19, 229, 232, 419. 
Bridge, Nathan & Co., 21. 
Bridge, Sallie (Mrs. Knowles), 231. 
Bridge, Samuel J., 229, 235, 240. 
Bridge, Susan, 19. 
Brigade Band, Boston, 22, 156. 
Briggs, Dr. John A., 100, 207. 
Briggs, Philander S., 376. 
Briggs, Prof.,Bowdoin College, 486. 
Briggs & Willis, 376. 
Brigham, Peter, 64. 
Brintnall, Benjamin, 264, 376. 
Brintnall, Samuel, 376. 
Brintnall, Samuel R., 268, 377, 497. 
Brintnall & Osgood, 377. 
Brooks, Isaac, 217. 
Brooks, Governor John, 63, 206. 
Brooks, Peter C, 242, 292, 365. 
Brooks, Phillips, 365-367, 
Brown, Amos, 467, 481. 
Brown, Ann, 84. 
Brown, Augustus, 471. 
Brown, Benjamin, 84, 463. 
Brown, Benjamin, Jr., 84. 
Brown, Benjamin F., 489, 498. 
Brown, Caleb Strong, 84. 
Brown & Dix, 471. 
Brown, Edward, 84. 
Brown, Elbridge, 470. 
Brown, Ellen Augusta, 388. 
Brown, Ezra, 196, 489. 
Brown, George, 376. 
Brown, Isaac, 387, 388. 
Brown, Jesse, 470. 
Brown, J. Henry, 268. 



5o8 



INDEX 



Brown, J. & J. H., 470. 
Brown, John H., 264. 
Brown, Nathaniel, 478. 

Brown, Oliver, 44, 140, 463. 

Brown, Captain "William, 43, 

Browne, Thomas, Jr., 320. 

Browne, T. Quincy, 320. 

Bruce, Benjamin, 451. 

Bryant, Gridley, 441. 

Bryant, Timothy, 45, 479. 

Buddington, Rev. William Ives, 
350, 424. 

Bunker Hill Aurora^ 108, 400, 494, 
496. 

Bunker Hill Bank, 31, 34> 75> 77» 
80, 89, 98, 100, 112, 114, 126, 
168, 175, 201, 227, 233, 374, 392, 
393, 421, 422, 446,462. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 49, 50, 55, 
250, 252, 253, 307, 310. 

Bunker Hill Monument, 62, 63, 
loi, 168, 190, 227, 233, 412. 

Burlingame, Anson, 198. 

Bumham, Captain, 450. 

Burr, Joshua, 75. 

Burrill, Mrs., children's dancing- 
school, 106, 429, 469. 

Burroughs, William, 416. 

Burton, Joseph, 181. 

Butts, William D., 265. 

Buxton, Aaron O., 497, 498. 

Byam, E. G., 426. 

Byram, Charles R., 268, 307. 

Byrnes, William M., 79, 478. 

Caldwell, James, 45, 46. 
Caldwell, Joseph, 266, 474. 
California during Civil War, 410. 
Calnan, Patrick J., 269. 
Carey, Richard, 293, 295, 296. 
Carleton, Alfred, 408. 
Carleton, Catherine, 221. 



Carleton, Guy, 380. 

Carleton, William, 164, 270, 426, 

486. 
Carleton, William E., 270, 426. 
Carleton College, Minnesota, 164, 

270, 427. 
Carpenter, Frederic, 416. 
Carpenter, Marcellus, 416. 
Cartee, Dr. Cornelius S., 493, 503. 
Carter, John, 260. 
Carter, Joseph, 335. 
Carter, Robert, 214. 
Castle Island, 70. 
Caswell, Jacob, 374, 375, 378. 
Caswell, William, 374, 375. 
Caswell's Wharf, 375. 
Catholic Literary Union, 426. 
Cavill, John, 228. 
Chamberlain, Daniel, 278. 
Chandler, Mrs. John, 422. 
Channing, William Ellery, 220. 
Channing, Rev. William H., 359. 
Chapin, Edwin Channing, 353. 
Chapin, Edwin H., 94, 347-356, 

402. 
Chapin, Mrs. Edwin H., 353, 354. 
Chapin, Nahum, 268, 393, 479. 
Chapin, Trull & Co., 393. 
Chapman, Captain Jonathan, 102. 
Charles River Bay, 60. 
Charles River Bridge, 99, 113, 141, 

219, 255. 
Charles town Artillery, 71, 198, 249, 

369. 384- 
Charlestown Bank, 444. 
Charlestown Branch Railroad, 86, 

89, 394, 413. 
Charlestown City Guard, 198, 384. 
Charlestown Club, 418. 
Charlestown Dispensary, 218. 
Charlestown Enterprise^ 80, 207, 

231, 236, 255, 376, 473. 



INDEX 



509 



Charlestown Five Cent Savings 
Bank, 306, 312, 318, 392. 

Charlestown Gas Co., 306, 392, 
413, 414,468. 

Charlestown Land and Wharf Co., 
70, 283, 394. 

Charlestown Light Infantry, 146, 
189, 249, 252, 456. 

Charlestown Lyceum, 145, 147, 
241, 243, 483. 

Charlestown, map of, in 1818, 471. 

Charlestown mayors, 459. 

Charlestown, members of U. S. 
Congress from, 263. 

Charlestown, members of State 
Legislature from, 263. 

Charlestown Mutual Fire Insur- 
ance Co., 40, 100, 401. 

Charlestown Neck, 460. 

Charlestown Square, 128. 

Charlestown Wharf Co., 86, 87, 89. 

Chase, Charles N., 309. 

Cheever, John, 265. 

Chelsea Bridge, 175. 

Cheshire Railroad, 153. 

Childs, Francis, 231, 267, 271, 272, 
479, 489. 

Childs, George T., 272. 

Childs, Nathaniel, 272. 

Choate, Rufus, 169. 

City Hall, 289, 290, 488, 491. 

Civil Engineering, father of, 117, 

Civil War, 1861, 384, 482. 

Clapp, Frederic, 117. 

Clapp, Otis, 315, 493. 

Clark, Rev. Charles R. 321. 

Clark, James, 479. 

Clark, Mary, 96. 

Clarke, Aaron, 2d, 196. 

Clifford, Governor John H., 252. 

Cobuni, Ethan N., 479. 

Cochran, Catherine, 24. 



Cochran, Mary, 24. 
Colby, Gardner, 53, 164. 
Colby, Captain H. G. O., 457. 
Colby, Josiah, 53. 
Colby, Mrs. Sarah, 52, 53. 
Colby University, 53, 164. 
Collier, Charles, 416, 
Cohimhia, ship, 95. 
Columbian Guards, 252. 
Colorado Smelting Co., 415. 
Congress Street Bridge, 142. 
Congress, U. S., members of, from 

Charlestown, 263. 
Constitution, frigate, 140, 378. 
Constitutional Liberty Hall, 382, 

384. 
Cook, Arnold, 64. 
Cook, Enoch, iii, 112. 
Cook, Isaac, 479. 
Cook, Josiah P., 168. 
Cook, Rymes & Co., 99. 
Cook's Lane, 112, 273. 
Corbett, Leavitt, 264. 
Corcoran, William W., 106. 
Cordis, Captain Joseph, 35, 312. 
Cordis Street, 35, 40. 
" Coronation," hymn and tune, 332, 

zz^^ 342. 

Cotting, Charles E., 457. 
Cotton, Joseph H., 267, 489, 497. 
Crafts' Comer, 36, 305. 
Crafts, Elias, Sr., 265, 310, 313. 
Crafts, Elias, Jr., 36, 305, 307-309. 
Crocker, Uriel, 209. 
Crosby & Nichols, 481. 
Crowley, Jeremiah J., 268. 
Crowninshield, Abraham, 154. 
Crowninshields, the, 469. 
Cunningham, Thomas, 267. 
Currier, John P., 450, 451. 
Curry, George, 93, 94. 
Curry, Mrs. William, 369. 



5IO 



INDEX 



Curtis, Charles, 298, 468. 

Curtis, Herbert, 476. 

Curtis, John, 469. 

Cushing, Caleb, 384. 

Cushing, John P., 125. 

Cushman, Charlotte, 204. 

Cushman, John R., 498. 

Cutler, Edward, 264. 

Cutler, George, 479. 

Cutter, Abram E., 307, 396, 417, 

429, 479, 481. 
Cutter, E. F., iii. 
Cutter estate, 123. 
Cutter, George F., 84. 
Cutter, Marshall N., 267. 
Cutter & Mullett, 375. 
Cutter, Oliver C, 375, 
Cutter, Samuel, 464. 
Cutter, Thomas M., 391, 392, 409, 

479- 

Daguerreotype, the, 304. 
Dalrymple Fund, of Groton, 395, 
Dalrymple, Willard, 393-395, 478. 
Damon, James, 25, 196. 
Damon, John Wade, loi, 144, 405- 

409, 428, 435. 
Damon, Mary, 117. 
Damon's Wharf, loi, 406, 408. 
Dana, Professor, 302. 
Dana, James, 138, 174, 252, 277, 

456, 474, 478. 
Dana, Samuel, 174, 456. 
Daniels, Charles F., 497. 
Davidson, Charles H., 158. 
Davidson, George, 95, 96. 
Davidson, George, Jr., 96. 
Davidson, Hamilton, 22, 419, 464. 
Davidson, Dr. Herman E., 207. 
Davidson Rubber Co., 158, 
Davidson, Samuel, 96. 
Davis, Governor, 210. 



Davis, Joseph W., 268. 

Davis, William W., 267, 

Davison, Elias, 289. 

Day, John A., 267. 

Day, Marcellus, 267. 

Deane, Christopher C, 84, 266. 

Deblois, James, 221, 222. 

Dee, John H., 268. 

Delano, James, 156. 

Delano, Judith, 146. 

Denvir, Patrick, 79. 

Derby, Isaac Walker, 268. 

Devereaux, John N., 486. 

Devens and Harris families, 97. 

Devens, Arthur Lithgow, loi. 

Devens Benevolent Society, 100, 

126. 
Devens, Charles, 178. 
Devens, Gen. Charles, 99, 100, loi. 
Devens, David, 99, 100, 263. 
Devens, Rev. David Steams, 100. 
Devens, Edward F., 98. 
Devens Funds for the Poor, 100. 
Devens, George A., 100. 
Devens, Captain Henry, 98. 
Devens house, Chelsea Street, 105. 
Devens, Mary, loi. 
Devens Commissary Richard, 98, 

99, 102, 263, 292. 
Devens, Richard, 90, 97, 99, 178, 

264. 
Devens, Richard, Jr., 98. 
Devens, Richard Miller, 100. 
Devens, Samuel, 75, 98, 99. 
Devens, Rev. Samuel Adams, 100, 
Devens, Thomas M., 97, 98. 
Devens, William H., 100. 
Dewey, Rev. Dr., 360. 
Dexter estate, 17, 144, 418. 
Dexter, Franklin, 18. 
Dexter, F. Gordon, 18. 
Dexter, Katharine Maria, 24. 



INDEX 



511 



Dexter Row, 22, 143, 146, 147, 148, 

160, 312, 317, 419. 
Dexter, Samuel, 17, 18, 19, 120, 

263, 311, 365, 419. 
Dizer family, 174. 
Doane College, Nebraska, 164. 
Doane, Heman S., 85, 455. 
Doane, John, Jr., 461. 
Doane, John, Jr., & Co., 85. 
Doane Street School, 44. 
Doane, Thomas, 114, 115, 164,333, 

33^^ 342, 344- 
Dodge, David, 387. 
Doherty, Philip J., 269. 
Dow Academy, Franconia, New 

Hampshire, 279. 
Dow banquet, 276. 
Dow, Moses A., 1 12, 230, 267, 272- 

279» 395» 475' 478. 480, 498. 
Downer, Francis, 129. 
Downer, Francis E., 268. 
Downer, Frank A., 498. 
Downes, Lieutenant Albert, 98. 
Downes, Commodore John, 48, 98, 

252. 
Dowse, Alice, 53. 
Dowse, Samuel, 174. 
Dowse, Thomas, 54. 
Draper, Daniel, 286. 
Dunlap, Andrew^ 274. 
Dwinell, James Fisher, 267. 
Dyer, Smith, in. 

Eagle Hotel, 433. 

Eaton, Captain E. O., 252. 

Eaton, Ezra, 169. 

Edes, Henry H., ^3^ 7°, 150, 296, 

455- 
Edes, Isaiah, 165. 
Edes, Thomas, 296. 
Edgerly, J. Homer, 269. 
Edgerton, John, 359. 



Edgerton, Sarah C, 359. 
Edgeworth Street Chapel, 424. 
Edmands, Baniabas, 416, 417, 456. 
Edmands, Benjamin, 75, 416. 
Edmands, Gen. Benjamin F., 416. 
Edmands & Co., 416. 
Edmands, Edward, 416. 
Edmands, George D., 412, 414, 417, 

491. 497- 
Edmands Hall, 209, 210, 415. 
Edmands & Hooper, 416. 
Edmands, Isaac P. T., 231, 456. 
Edmands, James C, 209, 415, 416. 
Edmands, John D., 416, 417. 
Edmands, J. Wiley, 416. 
Edmands, Thomas, 415, 416. 
Edmands, Thomas R. B., 416, 417. 
Edmands, Walter, 415, 416. 
Edwards, Jane E., 482, 486. 
Elevated Railway Terminal, 464. 
Elliot, James H., 220. 
Elliot, Thomas J., 196, 265. 
Ellis, Rev. Dr. George E., 134, 144, 

150, 151, 213, 236, 328, 350, 480, 

488-491. 
Elm Street News-room, 452, 453. 
Emery, James, 266. 
Enterprisey Charlestown, 80, 207, 

231, 236, 255, 376, 473. 
Etheridge, Samuel, 252, 265. 
Evans, Dana & Co., 81. 
Evarts, Jeremiah, 105. 
Evarts, William M,, 105. 
Everett, Alexander H., 252. 
Everett, Edward, 234, 241-254, 

269, 270, 285, 325, 327. 
Everett, Rev. Linus S., 345. 
Everett, Rev. Oliver C, 424, 476, 

478. 
Everett, Dr. William, 288, 289, 292, 

365- 
Exchange News-room, 219. 



512 



INDEX 



Fairbanks, Charles F., 146. 
Fairbanks, Henry P., 144, 145, 

196, 199, 266. 
Faunce, Elisha, 420. 
Fay, Rev. Dr., 81, 250. 
Felt, J. H., 479- 
Felton, Cornelius, 113. 
Felton, Cornelius C, 113. 
Felton, Samuel M., 113, 231, 289, 

372, 441- 
Female Benevolent Soc'y, 100, 126. 
Femald, William, iii. 
Ferrin, Samuel, 175, 399. 
Fessenden, Charles B., 451. 
Field, Charles, 267. 
Fields, James T., 93. 
Finley, Rebecca, 295. 
Finley, Dr. Samuel, 295. 
Finney, William H., 417. 
First Church, 81,99, loi, 105, 136, 

165, 201, 250, 289, 293, 297, 299, 

310, 327, 350, 395, 454, 463. 
Fisk, John J., 372. 
Fiske, John M., 451. 
Fitchburg Railroad Co., 23^ 82, 

113, 114, 153, 417- 
Fitz, Abel, 167. 
Flagg, John P., 73. 
Flagg, John P., & Co., 73. 
Fletcher, Rev. J. C, 485, 486. 
Fletcher, Jonathan V., 87. 
Fletcher, Timothy, 196, 265. 
Flint, Eliza, 82. 
Flint, George Frederic, 82. 
Flint, Mary, 82. 
Flint, Sarah H., 82. 
Flint, Simeon, 81-82. 
Flint, William, 82. 
Flucker, Thomas, Tory, 137. 
Flynn, John D., 268. 
Forster, Charles, 33, 39, 84, 154, 

156, I57> 265, 420. 



Forster, Dr. Edward J., 33, 154, 

155, 425, 436- 
Forster, Frederick P., 159. 
Forster, George H., 159. 
Forster, Henry, 158, 159, 265. 
Forster, Henry, & Co., 33, 159. 
Forster, Mrs. Henry, 25, 425. 
Forster, Horace, 159. 

Forster, Jacob, 33, 52, 1 44, 1 53, 1 54, 

156, 158, 159, 419. 
Forster, Mrs. Jacob, 23- 
Forster & Lawrence, 420. 
Forster, Lawrence & Co., 154, 156. 
Forster, Mrs. Louisa, 478. 
Forster, Mary T., 479. 

Forster School, Somerville, 157. 
Forster & Thompson, 153. 
Forsters, the, 153. 
Fort Independence, 70. 
Fosdick, David, 78, 265, 335. 
Fosdick, Hepzibah, 471. 
Fosdick, Deacon James, 87, 399. 
Fosdick, John, 85, 127, 479. 
Fosdick, William, 476. 
Foss, Jacob, 36, 37, 195, 196, 378, 
380-386, 399, 478 ; will of, 386. 
Foss & Gilmore, 36, 381. 
Fox-hunting, 61, 65, 379. 
Francis, James M., 479. 
Franconia (N. H.) Academy, 279. 
Franklin Insurance Co., 79. 
French, Daniel C, 235, 240. 
Frost, Joseph, iii, 
Frothingham, Amos T., 82. 
Frothingham Avenue, 190. 
Frothingham, Baylis & Co., 149. 
Frothingham, Maj. Benjamin, 185, 

255- 
Frothingham, Elizabeth, 462. 

Frothingham, Henry Knox, 189, 

476. 

Frothingham, Isaac, 186. 



INDEX 



5^3 



Frothingham, James (senior), 68, 

69, 260. 
Frothingham, James, artist, 68, 

185, 497. 
Frothingham, James K., 186, 188, 

193, 264. 
Frothingham, John, 186. 
Frothingham, John W., 149. 
Frothingham, Joseph, 49, 50. 
Frothingham, Joshua Paine, 186, 

190, 200. 
Frothingham, Mary, 49. 
Frothingham, Nathaniel F., 425. 
Frothingham, Rev. Dr. Nathaniel 

Langdon, 184. 
Frothingham, Reverend Octavius 

Brooks, 184. 
Frothingham, Rebecca W., 192. 
Frothingham, Richard (senior), 

124, 185, 186, 189, 263. 
Frothingham, Richard, 26, 190, 

i93-i95» 260, 265, 277, 279, 326, 

349, 352, 421, 423, 457, 459, 467, 

478, 480, 481, 485, 491, 494. 
Frothingham, Samuel, 184. 
Frothingham, Sarah, 431. 
Frothingham, Thomas, 186. 
Frothingham, Thomas G., 467, 489, 

497. 
Frothingham, Thomas H., 191, 

287. 
Frothingham, William, 124, 184. 
Frothinghams, the, 184. 
Fuller, James G., 196, 399. 

Gage, Addison, 19, 196, 287, 373, 

435- 
Gage, Addison, & Co., 82, 191. 
Gage, Alvah, 191. 
Gage, Benjamin W., 308. 
Gage, Charles O., 287. 
Gage, Charles P., 191. 



Gage, Hittinger & Co., 191, 286, 

287. 
Gage, Sawyer & Co., 191, 286, 287. 
Gallagher, Captain, U. S. N., 251. 
Gallant huntsmen, 64. 
Gammans, George H., 269. 
Garfield, President James A., 230. 
Garrett, Charles R., 445. 
Gary, John, 82. 
Gay, P. S., 196. 

Germania Musical Association, 79. 
Gibbs, John, 402. 
Gibbs, John H. 498. 
Gill, Dr. George, 467. 
Gilman, F. L., 268, 425. 
Gilmore, Addison, 36, 381. 
Gleason, Joseph H., 269. 
Goddard, Thomas A., 26. 
Goddard, Mrs. Thomas A., 189. 
Goodwin, David, 72, 260, 263. 
Goodwin, David, Jr., 261. 
Goodwin, Rev. George, 72. 
Goodwin, Thomas Jenner, 72, 75, 

77, 80, 250, 264. 
Gordon, William, 265. 
Gorham, Ann, 365. 
Gorham, Benjamin, 291, 292, 299. 
Gorham, Captain John, 288. 
Gorham, Lydia, 365. 
Gorham, Nathaniel, 242, 260, 263, 

288-291, 293, 365. 
Gorham, Stephen, 291. 
Goss, Lyman B., 266. 
Gould, James, 78. 
Grand Army of Republic, Post 

A. Lincoln, 17, 229, 312, 418. 
Granite Railway Co., Quincy, 441. 
Gray, Benjamin, 181. 
Gray, Captain Robert, 95, 
Gray, William, 74, 120, 140, 282, 

283, 319. 
Gray's Wharf, 74, 283-285, 376. 



514 



INDEX 



Green Dragon Band, 156. 
Greenleaf, Elizabeth, 445. 
Greenleaf, James E., 444. 
Greenleaf, Mary A., 445. 
Greenleaf, Robert E., 445. 
Greenleaf, Thomas, 265, 391, 392, 
Gregory, John, 75. 
Griffin, J. Q. A., 196, 266,401, 404. 
Grosh, Rev. A. B., 346. 
Groton, Union Church Society, 395. 
Guild, Chester, & Sons, 167, 
Guild, George A., 479. 
Guild, Josiah F., 480, 486. 
Gunter, Dr., of Wash., D.C., 423. 

Haggerston, David, 124, 125. 

Hall, Alfred B., 320. 

Hall, Frank A., 193, 480. 

Hall, George S., 112. 

Hall, Gustavus V., 455. 

Hall house, strawberries, 66, 67. 

Hall, Lewis, 310. 

Hall, Nathaniel, 30. 

Hall, Thomas H., 456. 

Hamilton Bank, Boston, 80, 427. 

Hamlin, C. H. J., 266. 

Hampton Normal and Agric. Inst., 

113- 

Hancock, John, house, 396. 

Harding, Edward, 376. 
Harrington, Arthur, 287. 
Harris, Charles, loi. 
Harris, Charlotte, loi, 102, 496, 

504. 
Harris chimes, 1 01 -104. 
Harris, George, loi. 
Harris, Henry, loi. 
Harris, John, 90, 114, 154, 264. 
Harris, Jonathan, loi, 408. 
Harris, Josiah, 49, 264. 
Harris, Richard D., loi. 
Harris, Samuel D., loi. 



Harris, Samuel T., 268. 
Harris, Thomas, 260, 263, 290. 
Harris, Thomas B., 267, 451, 489, 

497» 504- 

Harris "Wharf, loi, 406, 408. 

Harrison, James, 11 7-1 20, 332. 

Harrison, John, 117. 

Harrison, William Henry, Pres- 
ident, 326. 

Hart, D. J., & Co., 51. 

Harvard College, 113, 115, 150, 
164, 202, 212, 235, 469. 

Harvard College Military Co., 156. 

Harvard College, Theol. Sch., 202. 

Harvard, John, 164, 235-239; 
monument, 243, 247 ; statue of, 

235- 

Harvard Row, 289, 461. 

Harvard Unitarian Church, 22, 76, 
85, 147, 149. 326, 370, 372, 392, 
424, 427, 430, 432, 433, 436, 446, 
455' 465. 47 1- ; History of, 455; 
clock and bell, 201, 202. 

Haskell, Daniel L., 93. 

Haskell, Edwin B., 278. 

Haskell, Edwin F., 489. 

Hastings, Walter, 469. 

Hawaiian Islands, 226. 

Hawkins, Guy C, 265. 

Hawkins, Nathaniel, 260, 263. 

Hay & Atkins, 311. 

Hay, Francis, 335. 

Hay, John, 18, 307-311, 317. 

Hay, Joseph, 311. 

Hayes, John E., 268. 

Hemenway, Augustus, 27, 

Henry, Joseph, 492. 

Henry, Captain William, 289, 449. 

Henry, William P., 415. 

Henry Price Lodge of F, Masons, 

452. 
Heustis, Milton L. P., 268. 



INDEX 



515 



Hichbom, Philip, 218, 

Hichborn, William, 267. 

High Street, 418, 454, 443, 448. 

Hill & Hittinger, 286. 

Hill, Joseph W., 268. 

Hill, Nathaniel G., 479. 

Hill, S. P., & Co., 35, 92. 

Hills, John, 443. 

Hill's School, Mrs., 443. 

Hittinger house, 241. 

Hittinger, Jacob, 287, 435, 470. 

Hittinger & Pitts, 470. 

Hoar, Samuel, 169. 

Hoit, J. C. (artist), 497. 

Holden, Oliver, 108, 261, 264, 283, 

312, 332-337, 341-344. 432, 443- 
Holden, Thomas F., 108. 
Hollis Street Society, Boston, 360. 
Holmes, Elisha T., 105. 
Holmes, Dr. Howland, 207. 
Holmes, John H., 486, 487, 493. 
Holmes, Melzar H., Jr., 105. 
Holmes, Philip B., 196, 266. 
Hooper, Thomas, 185, 337. 
Hoosac Dock and Elevator Co., 

loi, 283, 375, 409. 
Hopkins, Reuben, 287, 
Horn Pond Mountain, 66. 
Hotel Gahm, 129. 
Houghton, Dr. H. A., 39. 
Hovey, Abijah, 265, 461. 
Hovey, Abijah Wyman, 461. 
Hovey ancestors, 460, 463. 
Hovey, James, 462. 
Hovey, Joseph F., 192, 462. 
Hovey, Solomon, 461, 462. 
Hovey, Solomon, Jr., 461. 
Hovey & Fenno, 462. 
Howard Lodge, Odd Fellows, 452. 
Howe, Joseph N., 181. 
Howe, Samuel Gridley, 181. 
Howland, Desire, 288. 



Howland, John, 288. 
Howland, Zenas C, 196, 478. 
Hubbell, Peter, 412, 413, 414, 423. 
Hubbell, Mrs. Peter, 495. 
Hudson, Charles, 148. 
Hull, Liverus, 277, 278, 457-459. 
Hunnewell, Charles, 431. 
Hunnewell estate, 431. 
Hunnewell, James, 283, 289, 431, 

466, 475, 480. 
Hunnewell, James F., 255, 300, 

431-433' 482-485, 497, 498. 
Hunnewell, William, 431. 
Hunt, Andrew K., 451. 
Hunt, Reuben, 76, iii, 479. 
Hunt, Samuel C, 268, 376, 
Huntington, Lynde A., 44, 423. 
Hurd, Benjamin, 128, 129, 133,337. 
Hurd, Benjamin, Jr., 29, 133. 
Hurd, Dr. Francis, 207. 
Hurd, Judge Francis W., 138, 480, 

481, 485, 486, 498. 
Hurd, George F., 489, 498. 
Hurd, Hutchins & Co., 387. 
Hurd, Isaac, 133. 
Hurd, Jacob, 128. 
Hurd, John, 128, 129, 132, 387. 
Hurd, Joseph, 129, 136-138, 263. 
Hurd, Dr. J. Stearns, 129, 132-134, 

136, 264, 435. 
Hurd, William, 129, 137, 138, 478. 
Hutchins, Henry C, 289. 
Hutchins, Horace G., 277, 458, 459. 
Hutchins & Wheeler, 138. 
Hyde, Enoch, 20, 31. 
Hyde estate, 31, 32, ^7- 
Hyde factory, 432. 
Hyde, Francis, 31. 
Hyde, George, 31, 81, 475, 477, 478, 

480-482, 498. 
Hyde & Southworth, 81. 
Hyde & Wuiship, 31. 



5i6 



INDEX 



IASIGI & GODDARD, 26. 

Ice business, beginning of, 285, 

286. 
Ice-house controversy, 408. 
Independent Cadets, 252. 
Independent Christian Society, 

Richmond, Virginia, 346. 
Indian Chief Hotel, 119, 432, 433. 
Indians of the Northwest, 300. 
Indians, Society for Propagating 

Gospel among, 212, 213. 
India-rubber experiment, 154. 

Jackson, Andrew, President, 22 ; 

portrait of, 383, 497. 
Jackson, Dr. Charles T., 19. 
Jackson, Rev. Henry, 86. 
Jackson, Samuel, 64. 
Jacobs, George H., 141. 
Jaques, Francis, 90. 
Jaques, Henry, 89. 
Jaques, Henry L., 89, 321. 
Jaques, Colonel Samuel, 59-62, 64, 

66, 70, 84, 89, 209 ; his animals, 

60-62. 
Jaques, Samuel, Jr., 70, 264. 
Jaques & Stanley, 60. 
Jaques Wharf, 60. 
Jarvis, William C, 264. 
Jasper, Gustavus A., 410. 
Jewett, Ralph W., 38. 
Johnson ancestors, 460, 463. 
Johnson, Charles Barkeley, 462. 
Johnson, Charles F., 497, 498. 
Johnson, Daniel, 391, 478. 
Johnson, George, 69, 462, 476. 
Johnson, John, 450. 
Johnson, Jotham, 462. 
Johnson, Jotham, Jr., 375, 462. 
Johnson, Samuel R., 114, 115, 439 - 

441. 
Johnson, Sarah, 461. 



Kelly, William D., 93, 94. 

Kendall, Isaac, 80, 144. 

Kent, John (Charles town Neck), 

463- 
Kent, Mrs. John (Chestnut Hill), 

422. 
Kent, William H., 457-459. 
Kettell, George A., 1 71-174, 178, 

478. 
Kettell, George P., 196, 497. 
Kettell home, 120. 
Kettell, John, 263. 
Kettell, Jonathan, 260. 
Kidder, Samuel, & Co., 36, 37, 130, 

309, 382, 437, 454. 
Kidder, Samuel, Jr., 35-38. 
Kimball, James, 463. 
Kimball, Samuel, iii. 
King, Daniel P., 148. 
King, Rev. Thomas F., 345, 357. 
King Solomon Lodge of Free 

Masons, 185, 255, 337. 
King, Thomas Starr, 94, 345, 357- 

359, 402, 410, 444; statue of, 

240. 
Kirkland, Dr. John T., 212. 
Kittredge, Rev. Dr. Abbott E., 81, 

478, 480. 
Klous, Louis, 38. 
Knapp, Rev. Arthur, 320. 
Knapp, Rev. Henry, 320. 
Kneeland, Abner, 210. 
Knight, Abel and Thomas, 156. 
Knight, Samuel, 144. 
Knowles-Everett house, 270. 
Knowles, Mrs. Sallie (Bridge), 231, 

272. 
Knowles, Seth, 231-233, 241, 264, 

290. 
Knox, Captain Benjamin, 249. 
Kossuth, Louis, and his reception, 

195, 214. 



INDEX 



517 



Lafayette, General, 62-63, 234, 

242, 257, 325 ; portrait of, 301. 
Laforme & Frothingham, 467. 
Lamb, Thomas, 43. 
Lambert, Rev. Dr. Thomas M., 

168, 171, 172, 488. 
Lamson, Caleb, 466. 
Lamson, John, 255. 
Lamson, Joseph, 465. 
Lamson, Nathaniel, 41, 464, 466. 
Lamson, Susan Frothingham, 466. 
Langdon, J. W., 41. 
Lapham, Luther, 41, 319, 457. 
Larkin, Charles, 374. 
Larkin, Deacon, 99. 
I^rkin & Hurd, 129, 136. 
Larkin, Isaac, 64, 374. 
Larkin, John, 129, 136, 293. 
Larkin, John S., 374. 
Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 261. 
Larrabee, Thomas, 181. 
Lawrence, A. A., & Co., 416. 
Lawrence, Charles R., 422. 
Lawrence, Edward, 20, 22, 30, 141, 

154, 158, 159, 196, 266, 418-422, 

473, 478, 499. 
Lee, Higginson & Co., 422. 
Lee, James, Jr., 266, 426. 
Legislature, members of, from 

Charlestown, 263. 
Lemmon, Joseph, 68. 
Lemmon, Mary, 68. 
Lenon, Mark, 394. 
Leonard, N., 95. 
Leslie, C. R., 301. 
Lewis, Seth W., 196. 
Lexington academy, 400. 
Lexington battle, 49. 
Liberia, settlement of, 326. 
Lincoln, Bradford, Jr., 100. 
Lincoln & Edmands, 415. 



Lincoln, Hawkes, 33, 455. 
Lindsey, Ichabod, iii, 196, 266. 
Linwood Place, 117. 
Litchfield, William E., 387. 
Little, George W., 87, 412. 
Livermore, Isaac, 370. 
Locke, Andrew J., 196. 
Locke, Jonathan, 265. 
Locke, Mrs. Jonathan, 335. 
Lockwood, Rhodes, 19, 22. 
Lockwood, Rhodes G., 22, 418, 

479- 
Long, George H., 267. 
Long, William B., 267. 
Loring, George H., 30. 
Loring, Henry H., 29-30. 
Loring home, 28. 
Loring, Col. Joseph, 28-31, 251. 
Loring, Mrs. Joseph, 30. 
Loring, Miss Mary H., 28. 
Loring, Nathaniel H., 30. 
Loring, Seth L., 266. 
Louise Home, Washington, D. C, 

106. 
Lovering, Prof. Joseph, 113, 115, 

116, 150, 214. 
Lovering, Robert, 64, 115. 
Lovett, Joseph, 266. 
Low, Captain David, 43, 76. 
Low, Samuel, 43. 
Lynde, Joseph, 68. 
Lynde, Nathan, 441. 
Lynde, Seth S., 54. 
Lynde's Point, 57, 68. 
Lyon, Elizabeth B., 436. 
Lyon, Dr. Henry, 159, 207, 268, 

287, 325» 33^^ 406, 426, 434-436» 

479- 
Lyon, Captain Henry W., 436. 

Lyon, Margaret T., 436. 

Lyon, Sallie A., 436. 



5i8 



INDEX 



Mackintire, Eliab p., i6o, i66, 
265, 479. 

Mackintire, Laurie & Co., 167. 

McDonald, James A., 268. 

McKean, Dr. Joseph W., 207. 

McKim & Cutter, 429. 

McKim, John, U. S. N., 429. 

McKim, Judge John W., 429. 

McKim, William W., 429. 

McLean Asylum, 58, 324, 426. 

McLean, Dr. George, 467. 

McNamara, Mrs., 373. 

McNeil, Captain Archibald, 56-59, 
68, 70. 

McNeil, Daniel, 56. 

McNeil estate, 56, 68. 

McNeil, William, 56. 

Madison Ave. Reformed Church, 
New York, 81. 

Maffit, John N., 120. 

Magoun, Israel P., 268. 

Magoun, Joshua, 399. 

Magoun's shipyard, 463. 

Maiden, England, 161. 

Maiden, Massachusetts, 161. 

Mann, Moses, 105. 

Mansion House, 120, 180, 274, 275. 

Marshall, Gen. James F. B., 113. 

Marshall, Thomas, 112. 

Martin, Mike, a/ias Captain Light- 
foot, 217. 

Mason, Francis M., 266. 

Mason, Dr. William, 159. 

Massachusetts Bank, 334, 337. 

Massachusetts Emigrant Soc, 300. 

Massacmisetts Hist. Soc, 54, 190. 

Massachusetts Hortic. Soc, 125. 

Mass. Institute Technology, 208. 

Massachusetts Medical Soc, 324. 

Mass. Missionary Magazine, 298. 

Mass. Mutual Ins. Co., 86. 

Massachusetts National Bank, 189. 



Masters & Simonds, 308. 
Mayo, Rev. A. D., 359. 
Mead, Elijah, 263. 
Mead, Isaac, 64, iii, 124-126, 186. 
Mead, Isaac Henry, 126, 127. 
Mechanics' Apprentice Assoc, 93. 
Mechanics' Charitable Assoc, 210. 
Mechanics' Insurance Co., 462. 
Memorial History of Boston, 455. 
Mendelssohn Quintette Club, 79. 
Merchants' Bank, Boston, 374. 
Merriam, Charles, 90. 
Merrill, Alfred K., 267. 
Merrill, Enos, 497, 498. 
Merrill, Nathan, 417. 
Messinger, David S., 78. 
Messinger, Mrs. David S., 449. 
Methodist Society, First, 119. 
Methodist Society, Trinity, 1 19. 
Methodists' dress, 119. 
Middlebury, Vt., College, 107. 
Middlesex Canal, 463, 464. 
Middlesex Railroad Co., 464. 
Mexican War enlistment, 383, 384, 

399- 
Miles, Rev. James B., 279, 424, 

480, 488. 
Miles, General Nelson, 469. 
Miller, Joseph, 263. 
Miller, Thomas, 250, 293. 
Mishawum Literary Assoc, 482. 
Mitchell, Michael J., 269. 
Monroe, Abijah, 69, 158, 265. 
Monroe, Edwin, 265. 
Montague, Rev. William, 254. 
Montgomery, Captain J, B., 84. 
Monument Natl. Bank, 306, 414. 
Monument Square, 412, 423, 428, 

434. 454- 
Moore, C. W., 108. 
Morocco-leather business, III. 
Morrill, J., 70. 



INDEX 



519 



Morris, Commodore Charles, 98, 

105, 251, 469. 
Morris, Lieutenant Charles W., 98. 
Morris, Louise, 106, 
Morris, Dr. William B., 469. 
Morse, George H., 87. 
Morse, Rev. Jedidiah, 255, 257, 

292-300. 
Morse, Richard Carey, 297, 304, 
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 296, 

297» 300-304. 
Morse, Sidney Edwards, 297, 304. 
Moise, William B., 51. 
Morse's Geography, 300. 
Morss, Anthony S., 486, 489. 
Moulton, Elizabeth, 438. 
Moulton, the Misses, 362, 438. 
Moulton, Samuel C, 362. 
Mount Auburn, 148. 
Mullett, John, 375. 
Mulliken, J. W., 455. 
Munroe, Washington, 64. 
Murphy, Francis J., 269. 
Murphy, James S., 447. 
Murphy, John R., 268, 447. 
Murphy, William H., 269. 
Murray, John, 335. 
Murray, William, 417. 
Murray, William & Son, 132. 
Mutual Protection Ins. Co., 306. 
Mystic Water Board, 141, 271. 
Mystic Water Works, 115, 122, 

421, 457- 

Nason, Richard, 497. 

National Academy of Design, 301. 

Navy Yard, 63, 107, 121, 140, 176, 

180, 299, 376, 378, 441. 
Neal, Caro, 468. 
Neal, George B., 468. 
Newell, Joseph, 250, 440. 
Newell, J. G., 406. 



New York Observer^ 304. 
Nichols, Edward, 450. 
999th Artillery, 75. 
Noble, James, 24. 
Norfolk Navy Yard, 121. 
North American Review^ 214. 
Northern Railroad, 175. 
Norton, Eugene L., 267, 458, 459, 

475, 480, 482, 486. 
Norton, John B., 268. 
Norton, William E., 396, 397. 
Notable citizens, 391. 
Notable visitor, 193. 
Nutting, Dummy, estate, 273. 

O'Brien, James W., 498. 

Odd Fellows, 352. 

Odin, John, 241. 

Odin pasture, 450. 

Old Colony Railroad, 115, 441. 

Old families, one of the, 315. 

Old Ladies' Home (see Winchester 

Home). 
Oliver, William B., 250. 
O'Neil, Admiral Charles, 467. 
O'Neil, John W., 269. 
O'Reilly, John Boyle, 182, 424, 445 

446. 
O'Riorden, Patrick, 380, 406,411. 
Osgood, Isaac, 479. 
Osgood, Rev. Dr. Samuel, 150. 

Paine, Rev. Joshua, Jr., 293. 
Palfrey, Dr. John G., 214. 
Fanoplisty 209, 298. 
Parish Land Company, 289. 
Parker, George A., 114. 
Parker, Leonard M., 264. 
Parker, Wilder & Co., 465. 
Park Street Church, Boston, 298. 
Parks, Warham, 291. 
Parris, Alexander, 441. 



520 



INDEX 



Parsons, Col. Solomon, 39, 417. 

Payson, Samuel, 334. 

Peabody, Augustus, 169. 

Peabody, O. W. B., 148. 

Peach, " Jaques Admirable," 59. 

Pearson, Francis W., 451, 478. 

Pearson, Linus E., 466. 

Pendergast, George S., 267. 

Perkins, Thomas H., 62. 

Perkins Inst, for Blind, 181. 

Pennsylvania Steel Co., 114. 

Perry, Commodore O. H,, 432. 

Phelps, Elisha L., 375. 

Phelps, Oliver, 291. 

Phelps & Thompson, 53. 

Phila., B., & Wilmington R.R., 114. 

Phillips Exeter Academy, 213. 

Phillips, John, 292. 

Phillips, John, Jr., 365. 

Phillips, Jonathan, Jr., 283. 

Phillips School, 462. 

Phinney, Elias, 463. 

Phipps, Benjamin, 465. 

Phipps, Benjamin, Jr., 465. 

Phipps, Joseph, 463, 465. 

Pierce, Caleb, 140, 375. 

Pierce, Elizabeth, 117. 

Pierce, George, 469. 

Pierce, Henry A., 289, 321. 

Pierce, Martha, 117. 

Pierce, Stephen, 117. 

Pierce, William W., 196, 278, 479. 

Pierpont, John, 360. 

Pilsbury, Edwin L., 268. 

Pillsbury, Omer, 269. 

Pitts, Lemuel, 470. 

Poland Springs House, 338. 

Pollard, Captain, 76. 

Pool, Lot, 264. 

Poole, George S., 481, 484-487. 

Poole, William F., 480, 481. 

Poole, WUliam H., 486. 



Poor, Samuel, 265. 
Pope, John (artist), 497. 
Powell, William J., 100. 
Power, Thomas, 252. 
Pratt, Nathan, 25, 26. 
Pray, Benjamin S., 26. 
Pray, Lyman, 266. 
Preble, William H., 269. 
Prentiss, Rev. Thomas, 202. 
Prescott, Colonel, statue, 18, 19. 
Prescott Light Guard Armory, 333. 
Presho, Edward W., 269. 
Preston & Merrill, 415. 
Preston, W. H. & T. B., 27, 362. 
Price, Eli K., 223. 
Prichard, Capt. Abraham P., iii, 

250. 
Prichard, Mrs. Abraham P., 449. 
Prime, Oliver, 269. 
Prime, Winfield F., 269. 
Princeton College, 212, 213. 
Prison Point Bridge, 70. 
Public Library, 34, 80, 1 01, 1 10, 301, 

446, 452 ; history of, 473 ; merged 

with Boston Pub. Lib., 498, 499. 
Public -spirited citizens, 378. 
Puritan Church, 334. 
Putnam, Dr. Aaron, 105, 106, 168, 

263. 
Putnam & Pratt distillery, 25, 36, 

380, 381. 

quincy, josiah, 233, 252. 

Rand, Abraham, 322, 323. 

Rand, Absalom, 266, 463. 

Rand, Alonzo, 207. 

Rand, Caleb, 84, 481, 485, 497, 498. 

Rand, David, 217. 

Rand, Edward T., 498. 

Rand, Dr. Isaac, 217. 

Rand, James H., 478. 



INDEX 



521 



Rand, John W., 132. 

Rand, Joseph, 322. 

Rand, Nathaniel, 343. 

Rand, Robert, 322. 

Rand, Warren, 176, 475. 

Rand, William, 217. 

Rankin, Rev. J. E., 488. 

Ranlett, Captain Charles A., 387. 

Ranlett, Mrs. Ellen Augusta, 387, 

388. 
Raymond, Francis, 156. 
Raymond, George, 108. 
Raymond, Samuel, 160. 
Raymond, William, 450. 
Rea, Joshua, 207. 
Read & Stedman, 286. 
Reade, John, 268. 
Reed, Fred M., 429. 
Reed, Josiah, 289. 
Reed, Josiah T., 39. 
Remick, Jeremiah S., 266. 
Revere, Paul, 99. 
Reynaud, Daniel, 261. 
Reynolds, John P., 269. 
Reynolds & Waitt, iii. 
Rice, Mr., glue-manufacturer, 228. 
Rice, Alexander H., 429. 
Rice, Henry, 379. 
Rice, Matthew, 69, 139, 379. 
Rice, Phinehas, 265. 
Richardson, J. Howard, 339, 
Richardson, Jeffrey, 181. 
Richardson, Ralph, 181. 
Richardson, Thaddeus, 393, 450. 
Richardson, Mrs. Thomas O., 422. 
Riddle, Edward, 159. 
Robbins, Rev. Chandler, D.D., 53. 
Robbins, Nathan, 26. 
Robbins, Rev. Samuel, 53. 
Robbins' Tavern, 290. 
Roberts, J. W., 489, 494. 



Robinson, Charles, Jr., 458, 459, 

475-477. 480, 486. 
Robinson Crusoe House, Chelsea 

Beach, 380. 
Robinson, Edward R., 266, 277, 

278. 
Robinson, Frederic, 266, 352. 
Robertson, Alice I., 314. 
Robertson, John C, 310, 313. 
Robertson, Captain John M., 70, 

71, 79, 98, 250. 
Robertson, Mrs. Sarah F., 313, 
Rochelle salts, 37. 
Rockwell, Julius, 148. 
Rogers, Charles E., 267. 
Rogers, Robert B., 267. 
Rope-walk, 57, 58, 181-183. 
Roulstone, Andrew, 251. 
Runey, James, 376. 
Runey, John, 265. 
Russell Academy, 174. 
Russell, Harrington & Co., 286. 
Russell, Philemon R., 264. 
Russell, Thomas, 174, 300, 343. 
Russell, William, 204. 
Ruthven family, 469, 

Safford, Rev. O. F., 488. 
Saint Andrew's Lodge, 186. 
Saint John's Episcopal Church, 

414, 426, 468. 
Saint Mary's Church, 57, 72. 
«' Salem, The," 332. 
Salem Turnpike, 175. 
Salim Hill Church, 119, 371. 
Saleratus, 36, 381. 
Sampson, Calvin C, 182, 445, 476, 

478. 
Sampson, Mrs. Calvin P., 422. 
Sampson, John, 268. 
Sampson families, 451. 



522 



INDEX 



Sanbom, D. A., 114. 

Sanborn, John, 170, 196, 266. 

Sanbom, Peter, 168-170. 

Sanbom, Russell, 181. 

Sanderson, George A., 269. 

Sandwich Islands, 431. 

Sanger, George P., 196, 198. 

Sargent, Samuel G., 335, 443. 

Savage, Mr., 254. 

Saville, Richard, 461. 

Sawin, Samuel D., 267. 

Sawyer & Bird, 26. 

Sawyer, Charles W., 75, 283. 

Sawyer, Mary C, 422. 

Sawyer, Susannah, 448. 

Sawyer, Timothy T., 22, 196, 244, 
277, 287, 419, 420, 422, 435»438, 
458, 459. 473' 475-478, 480, 482, 
493, 494, 498. 

Sawyer, Timothy T., Jr., 422. 

Sawyer, William (senior), 43, 54, 

448. 
Sawyer, William, 45, 223, 266, 

352» 399-404- 

Sawyer, Mrs. William, 402. 

Scott, Daniel, 24. 

Seckel pear, 20. 

Second Cong'l Church (see Har- 
vard Church). 

17th of June Celebration, 30. 

Sewall, Freeman S., in. 

Sewall, Moses B., in, 195, 196, 
267, 478, 486, 489. 

Shapleigh, James H., 81. 

Shaw, Com. John, 176, 180, 274. 

Sherburne, Lieut. John H., 98, 268. 

Sherburne, William, 267. 

Sherman, Gen. William T., 436, 

Shipley, Simon G., 25. 

Sibley, Edwin R., 497. 

Simonds, Joseph, 182. 

Simonds, Samuel C, 265. 



Skilton, Alfred, 455. 
Skilton, Matthew, 59, 70. 
Skilton, Putnam, 461. 
Skinner, Benjamin Hurd, 144. 
Skinner, George A., 138, 144. 
Skinner & Hurd, 129, 130, 133, 136, 

138, 143- 
Skinner, Hurd & Co., 129, 374. 
Skinner, John, 129-131, 143, 145. 
Skinner, John F., 129, 143-145. 
Skinner, William H., 143. 
Sleeper, John S., 226. 
Smith, Charles F., 171, 486, 489, 

498. 
Smith, Colonel Isaac, 64, 316. 
Smith, Isaac W., 178. 
Smith, Jehiel, 335, 448. 
Smith, Oliver, 196, 399. 
Smith, Oliver H. P., 267. 
Snow, David, 25. 
Snow, Ephraim, 126. 
Soley, John, 263, 274. 
Solis, Christopher, in. 
Souther, Joseph, 76, in, 498. 
Souther, Joseph, Jr., 77. 
Southworth, James F., 489, 497. 
Southworth, Robert A., 269. 
Stacey, Benjamin F., 268, 306. 
Standard Sugar Refinery, 410. 
Stanley, Gilman, 60, 289. 
Stanley, Reed & Co., 60, 143. 
Starbird, George M., 262. 
Stark, M. E., 322. 
State Board of Education, 352. 
State Lunatic Hospital, 324. 
State Prison, 57, 70, 85, 183, 189. 
Steams, Asahel, 264. 
Steams, Dr. Charles, 207. 
Steams, David S., 24. 
Steams, Dr. Josiah, 133. 
Steams, Mr. (builder), 441. 
Stearns, William B., 114, 468. 



INDEX 



S^Z 



Stearns, William S., 499. 

Stephens, Elizabeth, 312. 

Stephens, Captain William, 312. 

Stetson, Rev. Caleb, 400. 

Stetson, Catherine, 372, 

Stetson, Charles, 371. 

Stetson, David, 264, 370, 371, 373. 

Stetson, Jonah, 373. 

Stetson, Captain Lemuel, 289, 273' 

Stetson, Mary, 372. 

Stetson's Wharf, 371. 

Stevens, Mrs. Horace H., 2d, 422. 

Stevens, Jesse, 196. 

Stevens, John, 265. 

Stevenson, Charles L., 114. 

Stimpson, George, Jr., 475. 

Stinson, Charles, 181, 274. 

Stoddard, Captain Samuel, 96. 

Stone, F. M., 401. 

Stone, James M., 266. 

Stone, Jasper, 83. 

Stone, Dr. John O., 207, 

Stone, Jonathan, 458, 459, 479. 

Stone, Leonard, 286. 

Stone, Phineas J., 196, 265, 277, 

458, 459, 479. 
Story, Joseph, 220. 
Stowell, Francis, 96. 
Stowell, John, 36, 96, 437, 
Stowell, John J., 95, 96. 
Stover, Augustus W., 268. 
Stover & Hovey, 461, 463. 
Streeter, Sebastian, 210. 
Studley, John H., 268. 
Studley's coaches, 463. 
Sturgis, Russell, 282, 
Successful men, 405. 
Suffolk Bank, 89. 
Sullivan, John L., 174. 
Swallow, A. N., & Co., 53, 85, 289, 
Swallow, George N., 75, 269, 468. 
Swan, Frank H., U. S. N., 436. 



Swan, Captain Thomas L., 436. 
Sweetser, Henry Phillips, 369, 
Sweetser, Isaac, 87, 369, 370. 
Sweetser, Colonel John, 264, 369. 
Sweetser, Seth, 49, 368. 
Sweetser, Rev. Dr. Seth, 369. 
Swift, Benjamin, 24, 25, 368, 
Swift estate, 24. 

Taggard, John L,, 266. 
Tamplin, James B., 449-450. 
Tapley, George A., 62, 64, 379. 
Tapley, John, 64, 66, 377-379- 
Tapley's Wharf, 377, 378. 
Tartaric acid, 37. 
Taylor, Admiral William R., 469. 
Taylor, President Zachaiy, 148. 
Tebbetts & Hill, 78. 
Telegraph, the, 302-304. 
Ten Hills Farm, 62, 66. 
Thaxter, Adam W., 21. 
Thayer, Jechonias, 133. 
Thomdike, Edward, 478. 
Thomas, Capt. Joseph B., 409-411. 
Thomas, Colonel Seth J., 87, 94, 

196, 266, 352, 2^2- 
Thompson, Dr. Abraham R., 25, 

51, 82, 134, 232, 250, 292, 312, 

317, 322-326, 435. 
Thompson, Benjamin, 51, 144, 147, 

252, 264, 317- 
Thompson, Benj., & Co., 82, 149. 
Thompson, Charles, 39-41, 195 

196, 265, 318, 319, 352, 456, 461. 
Thompson, Eben Francis, 42. 
Thompson, Francis, 41, 267, 456, 

457. 
Thompson, Frederic W., 331. 
Thompson, George, 153, 331. 
Thompson homestead, 47. 
Thompson, James, 48. 
Thompson, Mrs. J. Bowers, 138. 



524 



INDEX 



Thompson, James L,, 178, 331. 
Thompson, Jeremiah B., 331. 
Thompson, Joseph, 50, 51, 54, 85, 

274.317. 321.432. 
Thompson, Joseph, 2d, 51. 
Thompson & Lapham, 41, 457, 466. 
Thompson, Susannah (Mrs. Wm. 

Sawyer), 51. 
Thompson, Mary (Mrs. Richard 

Frothingham), 51. 
Thompson, Samuel, 41, 42, 51. 
Thompson Square, 306, 317. 
Thompson, Thomas, 331. 
Thompson, Thomas Miller, 51. 
Thompson, Timothy, estate, 312. 
Thompson, Timothy, 48-52, 54, 

250, 260, 263, 317. 
Thompson, Timothy, Jr., 50, 264. 
Thompson, Captain William, 469. 
Thorndike, Edward, 196, 266. 
Thurston, Rev. James, 226. 
Ticknor & Fields, 481. 
Tilden, Freeman F., 266, 
Tillinghast, C. B., 262. 
Tinslar, Dr. Benjamin, 468. 
Todd, Robert, 82. 
Tompkins, Abel, 348. 
Torrey, Professor, 214. 
Torrey, Prof. Jeffries, 214. 
Town Hall, 290. 
Town Hill, 293, 309. 
Town Hill School, 44, 115, 116, 

140, 150, 205, 311, 334. 
Townley, Rev. Robert, 364, 402. 
Townsend, David, 378. 
Townsend, Samuel, 378. 
Training Field, 94, 310, 471. 
Training Field School, 311, 471. 
Training Field School Association, 

271, 471, 472. 
Trask, N. 165. 



Treadwell, Dr. J. G., 207. 

Tremont Bank, 89. 

Tremont House banquet, 439. 

Trinity Methodist Church, 458. 

Trull, Ezra, 271. 

Trull, Col. Ezra J., 269, 271, 393. 

Tudor Co., 82, 170. 

Tudor, Frederic, 284, 406-408. 

Tudor's Wharf, 227, 287. 

Tufts, Deacon Amos, 69, 162, 165- 

168, 318. 
Tufts, Amos, 85, 86. 
Tufts, Arthur W., 39. 
Tufts, Charles, 162, 164. 
Tufts College, 164, 208. 
Tufts, Daniel, 162, 163, 165, 168, 

260, 263. 
Tufts family, 160, 165. 
Tufts, George F., 166. 
Tufts, Gilbert, 39, 87, 162, 163, 166. 
Tufts, James Walker, 471. 
Tufts, John, 471. 
Tufts, Joseph, 83, 264, 400. 
Tufts, Joseph F., 166. 
Tufts, Leonard, 471. 
Tufts, Mary, 169. 
Tufts, Nathan, 162, 163, 165-169, 

171; homestead, 171 ; millpond, 

463. 
Tufts, Nathan, & Co., 39. 
Tufts, Nathan, & Sons, 82. 
Tufts, Nathan A., 160, 161, 473, 

475-478. 
Tufts, Nathan F., 144, 468. 
Tufts, Peter, 161, 471. 
Tufts, Peter, Jr., 162, 263, 471. 
Tufts, Samuel, 160, 379. 
Tufts, Samuel F., 86. 
Tufts, Susan, 462. 
Tufts tannery, 463. 
Tufts, Timothy, 263. 



INDEX 



525 



Tufts, William, 85, 86, 476, 478. 
Tufts, William Fuller, 471, 472. 
Turner, Edward, 210. 
Turner, Francis, 266. 
Turner, John, 268. 
Turner, Capt. Larkin, 265, 373, 374. 
Turnpike, the, 373. 
Tuttle, Aura S., 196. 
Tweed, Prof. B. F., 93, 362. 
Twombly, Rev. Alexander S., 95. 
Tyler, Benjamin F., 93. 
Tyler, George W., 93. 
Tyler, John F., 93. 
Tyler, Jonas, 92, 93. 
■^"'"r. Captain Jonas K., 93. 
r's Wharf, 92, 95, 

>ERwooD, James, 265. 

)n Bank, 45. 

)n Block, 158. 

ni, old ship, 74. 

;arian Association, 430, 

;arian Church, 29, 73, 97, 98, 

)0, 119, 120, 131, 135,136, 138, 
139, 147, 151, 163, 168, 178, 189, 
201, 210, 226, 2^2^ 242, 249, 291, 
299» 3iO'327. 332, 37i»462. 
Unitarian controversy, 298, 299. 
Universalist Church, First, 42, 73, 
126, 133, 139, 147, 164, 182, 188, 
190, 192, 209, 312, 315, 320, 327, 

345' 35I' 360, 375» 376, 392, 393' 
402,417, 422, 452,471. 
Universalist Society of Boston, 

2d, 355- 
University of Virginia, 224. 
Ursuline Convent, 326. 

Valley Forge, 96. 

Van Buren, Martin, Vice-Pres., 22. 

Van Nostrand brewery, 463. 



Van Voorhis, Henry, 64, in, 112. 

Varney, Shadrach, 144, 146, 289, 

382. 
Vermont Cent. Railroad, 114, 115. 
Vermont & Mass. Railr'd, 153, 417. 
Vinal, Otis, 83, 289. 
Vineyard, the, 123. 
Vose, Professor, 121. 

Wade, John, 376. 
Waldron, Horatio G., 479. 
Wales, Miss, private school, 155. 
Walker, Dr. Charles, 207, 209. 
Walker, Edwin G., 267. 
Walker family, the, 206. 
Walker, Rev. Henry, 210. 
Walker, Rev. Dr. James, 150, 202, 

213, 242, 326, 350, 455. 
Walker, Lucy, 210. 
Walker, Timothy, 44, 200, 263 ; 

harbor excursion, 202. 
Walker, Captain Timothy, 257. 
Walker, Dr. William J., 164, 206- 

208, 434 ; medical school, 207 ; 

bequests, 208. 
Ward, Artemas, 24, 25, 254. 
Ward, Judge, 25. 
Warren Academy, Woburn, 107. 
Warren Bridge, 112, 131. 141, 168, 

219, 371. 
Warren, G. Washington, 107, 196, 

265, 277, 321, 412, 413, 423, 457, 

459, 468. 
Warren Hall, 255, 258, 259. 
Warren, Deacon Isaac, 107, 413. 
Warren Inst, for Savings, 31, 34, 

60, 75, 77, 78, 80, 81, 85, 89, 100, 

107, 113, 126, 131, 143, 147, 161, 

166, 188, 189, 201, 226, 369, 371, 

392, 413, 421, 436, 473. 
Warren, James, 75. 



^26 



INDEX 



Warren, Joseph, 254 ; statue of, 

Everett address, 244. 
Warren Phalanx, 210, 249, 325, 

415, 461. 
Washington, George, 185, 295 

Everett's address on, 244, 246 

memorial service for, 255-261 

portrait of, 383, 497. 
Washington Hall, 35, 36, 130, 437. 
Washington Insurance Co., 370. 
Washington Light Infantry, 29. 
Washington Street, 56-59, 68, 74, 

78, 84. 
Waterston, Rev. Robert C, 469. 
Waverley House, 112, 227, 275, 

276. 
IVaverley Magazine, 280, 281. 
Webb, Mary, 490. 
Webb, " Father " Nathan, 32, ^3^ 

154, 455- 
Webster Bank, 90. 
Webster, Daniel, 62, 248, 253, 327 ; 

portrait, 383, 497. 
Webster, Daniel Fletcher, 252. 
Webster, Noah, portrait, 301. 
Weeks & Forster, 159. 
Welch, John P., 372. 
Welch, Ruth Stetson, 457. 
Welch, Thomas, 292. 
Weld, William F., & Co., 45. 
Wellington, Horatio, 134, 267, 
Wellington, Horatio, & Co., 207. 
Wellman, Mrs., candy-store, 42. 
Wesson & Gary, 82. 
Wesson, John, 82. 
Wheeler, Alexander, 138. 
Wheeler, Increase Sumner, 210. 
Wheildon & Raymond, 108. 
Wheildon, William W., 108, 136, 

400, 478, 488, 494, 496. 
Whipple & Adams, 444. 



Whipple, Captain Benjamin, 181, 

264, 444. 
Whipple, Edwin P., 93, 247. 
Whipple families, 451. 
White, Daniel, 36, 144 ; poor-fund, 

36, 44- 
White, Mrs. Daniel F., 422. 
White, Harry K., 422. 
White, James, 268. 
White, Rufus A., 267. 
White Plains, battle of, 96. 
Whiting, Dr. Augustus, 207, 209. 
Whiting, George A., 428. 
Whiting, George S., 226. 
Whiting, Dr. John S., 86, 166, 209, 

220. 
Whitmore, William H., 262. 
Whitney, Joseph, 114, 115. 
Whitney, Luther F., 489, 497. 
Whitney, Moses, 64. 
Whitney, Dr. Simeon, 207, 209. 
Whittemore, Rev. Dr.Thomas,4i7. 
"Who struck Billy Patterson ?" 1 27. 
Wilder, Marshall P., 125. 
Wiley, Robert R., 268. 
Wiley, Stephen, 265. 
Wiley, William, 75. 
Willard families, 451. 
Willard, Dr. Francis A., 207. 
Willard, J. H., 68. 
Willard, Paul, 266, 444. 
Willard, Paul, Jr., 444. 
Williams, Catherine, 120. 
Williams, Daniel, 490. 
Williams, Mrs. Lucinda C, 315. 
Williams, Richard, 315. 
Williams, Samuel, 120. 
Williams, William, 196. 
Wills, John, 126. 
Willson, Samuel S., 267. 
Wilson, Mrs. E. V., 339. 



i 07 



INDEX 



527 



Wilson, Honorable James, 94. 
Wilson, John B., 479, 491. 
Wilson, John B. and Charles, 420. 
Winchester, E. A. and W,, & Co., 

462. 
Winchester Home for Aged 

Women, 26, 34,44. 123, 193, 227, 

270, 271, 279, 315, 395, 430, 446, 

452, 458, 465. 
Wind-Mill Hill, 309. 
Winsor, Justin, 499, 500. 
Winship, John, 432. 
Winthrop Church, 20, 22, 79-82, 

85, 95, 148, 160, 161, 166, 270, 

419. 
Winthrop, Governor, 124, 184. 
Winthrop, Robert C, 252. 
Winthrop School, 396, 438. 
Wise, Helen L., 482, 486. 



Wood, William, 432, 
Woodman, Edwin, 267. 
Worth, Ira A., 269. 
Wright, Colonel Isaac H., 384. 
Wright, Winsor, 267. 
Wyeth, Nathaniel J., 413, 
Wyman ancestors, 460, 463. 
Wyman's Genealogies, 455. 
Wyman, Gerald, 461, 
Wyman, Dr. Morrill, 207, 214. 
Wyman, Nehemiah, 460, 461. 
Wyman, Nehemiah, Jr., 462. 
Wyman, Seth, 263. 
Wyman, Thomas B., 194. 
Wyman, William, 461. 

Yeaton, George H., 479. 
Young, Bushrod, W., 43. 
Young, Dr. Richard F., 207. 



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